
Anna McCrary
Host: Georgia Legal Services Program
Sponsor: King & Spalding LLP, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
Kaitlyn provided targeted representation to parents with physical, developmental, and intellectual disabilities in child welfare cases so that they have an equal opportunity to maintain family integrity.
As a result of uninformed child welfare policies and the mistaken belief that people with disabilities are unfit to parent, parents with disabilities are disproportionately referred to child welfare services and experience removal of their children in up to 80% of cases. Yet studies have consistently found that there is no relationship between intelligence and parenting capabilities. Under Title II of Americans with Disabilities Act, parents with disabilities are entitled to protection from unlawful discrimination in the administration of child welfare programs. Despite their ADA protections, parents with disabilities rarely receive the accommodations to which they are entitled, which leads to the unnecessary separation of their families. Specialized representation of parents with disabilities that is grounded in access to appropriate resources, disability experts, and practice guides will improve attorneys’ abilities to demand the proper accommodations their clients need to overcome barriers to reunifying their families.
During the Fellowship period, Kaitlyn:
Kaitlyn continues practicing at The Bronx Defenders as a staff attorney in their Family Defense Practice. Kaitlyn also continues her work representing parents with disabilities, as well as other parents involved in child welfare cases in the Bronx.
Host: Georgia Legal Services Program
Sponsor: King & Spalding LLP, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
Host: The Center for Family Representation
Sponsor: Pfizer Inc.
Host: Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
Sponsor: Steptoe & Johnson LLP
Host: Homeless Persons Representation Project, Inc.
Sponsor: Pfizer Inc.
Current Fellow