CHILD-ABUSE AND NEGLECT BY PARENTS WITH DISABILITIES - A TALE OF 2 FAMILIES

Two families, in which the children had been placed in foster care due to abuse and neglect by parents who had disabilities, were studied. I n the first case, the mother was instructed in skills that our assessm ent suggested were important for her child's survival. The mother read ily acquired and applied these skills, a fact reflected both in change s in her behavior and in changes in the child's well-being. In the sec ond case, the parent's incremental resumption of child custody was mad e contingent upon completion of relevant parenting tasks. Initially, i mprovements in the completion of such tasks were evident, but over tim e and with the onset of militating factors, no further progress was ma de and all parental rights were terminated. The implications of these cases for behavior analysis and the effort to reunite and preserve fam ilies are discussed.