ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Qualitative research using published court records to examine contextual factors that contribute to child protection decisions in cases involving parents with intellectual disabilities is limited, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: The present study conducted qualitative content analysis on 10 published Ontario court cases to study child protection decision-making between 2019 and 2021. RESULTS: The findings corroborated previous literature with nine out of 10 cases resulting in loss of child custody. Four major themes emerged from content analysis: (1) Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cases; (2) Systemic barriers to accessibility; (3) Attitudes and bias toward parents with intellectual disabilities; and (4) Ultimate reliance on intellectual disability status for final custody decision. CONCLUSIONS: Conducting content analysis on published court cases is useful in learning about accessibility barriers for parents with intellectual disabilities and may help in understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the child protection system.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Intellectual Disability , Child , Humans , Intellectual Disability/epidemiology , Pandemics , COVID-19/epidemiology , Parents , Child CustodyABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant stress for individuals, couples, and families. Divorced and separated couples with children face unique stresses amid the pandemic. This mixed-methods study explored these challenges among 296 divorced and separated parents: namely 204 women formerly partnered with men, 34 men formerly partnered with women, and 58 women formerly partnered with women, who were surveyed during Summer/Fall of 2020. Participants described legal, financial, and coparenting challenges. Those who were not yet divorced described difficulties filing for or finalizing their divorce because of court closures and lack of responsiveness from legal professionals. Those who were already divorced also faced legal challenges, such as being unable to obtain a court date to modify custody arrangements. Financial challenges included renegotiating financial support obligations in the context of job loss. Salient coparenting conflicts, explored through closed- and open-ended questions, included communication issues, different views on virus risk mitigation behaviors, financial issues (especially for those not yet divorced), and transitioning between households and handling remote schooling (especially for those with shared physical custody). Participants elaborated on COVID-19-specific challenges, revealing that (a) lack of communication or agreement regarding shared strategies for risk mitigation reflected and exacerbated challenging dynamics between coparents, (b) remote schooling was often the site of disagreement when one parent felt that they were doing more than their fair share of coordination and oversight, and (c) different perspectives on science were expected to lead to future contention when making a joint decision about whether to vaccinate children. Findings have implications for family and legal professionals working with divorced, divorcing, and separated parents.
La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha generado mucho estrés en las personas, las parejas y las familias. Las parejas separadas y divorciadas que tienen niños enfrentan tensiones únicas en medio de la pandemia. En este estudio de métodos combinados se analizaron estas dificultades entre 296 padres divorciados y separados, por ejemplo, 204 mujeres que antes estaban en pareja con hombres, 34 hombres que antes estaban en pareja con mujeres y 58 mujeres que antes estaban en pareja con mujeres, a quienes se los encuestó durante el verano/otoño de 2020. Los participantes describieron las dificultades legales, económicas y de cocrianza. Aquellos que aún no estaban divorciados describieron dificultades para presentar la demanda de divorcio o para finalizar su divorcio debido a los cierres de los juzgados y a la falta de respuesta de los abogados. Los que ya estaban divorciados también enfrentaron dificultades legales, como no poder obtener una cita en el juzgado para modificar los acuerdos de tenencia. Entre las dificultades económicas se encontraron la renegociación de las obligaciones de ayuda económica en el contexto de la pérdida del empleo. Los conflictos de cocrianza más destacados, analizados mediante preguntas cerradas y abiertas, fueron los problemas de comunicación, los diferentes puntos de vista sobre las conductas de disminución del riesgo de contagio del virus, los problemas económicos (especialmente para aquellos que aún no estaban divorciados) y la transición entre hogares y el manejo de las clases virtuales (especialmente para aquellos con tenencia compartida). Los participantes explicaron en profundidad las dificultades específicas de la COVID-19, y revelaron que (a) la falta de comunicación o de acuerdo con respecto a las estrategias compartidas para la reducción de riesgos reflejaron y exacerbaron la dinámica compleja entre los copadres, (b) las clases virtuales fueron generalmente el punto de desacuerdo cuando uno de los padres sentía que estaba haciendo más de lo que le correspondía con respecto a la coordinación y la supervisión, y (c) se esperó que los diferentes puntos de vista sobre la ciencia condujeran a futuras disputas a la hora de tomar una decisión conjunta acerca de si vacunar o no a los niños. Los resultados tienen consecuencias para los especialistas en familia y en leyes que trabajan con padres divorciados, que se están divorciando y separados.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Divorce , Parenting , Parents , Child , Child Custody , Divorce/economics , Divorce/legislation & jurisprudence , Family Relations , Female , Humans , Male , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
Involuntary job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic adds challenges, especially for custodial grandparents that are taking care of grandchildren. Grandparents are relatively vulnerable, and they need more attention and support when facing the negative impacts of COVID-19. This study analyzed cross-sectional survey data collected from 234 custodial grandparents via Qualtrics Panels in June 2020 in the United States. After using the propensity score weighting adjustment, results from logistic and ordinary least squares regression showed that compared with grandparents that did not lose their job during the pandemic, grandparents that did had more parenting stress and worse mental health. Moderation analysis also showed that social support was a significant moderator of the relationship between job loss and mental health, but not the relationship between job loss and parenting stress. The findings and implications are discussed.