[il-talk] Amended Support Letter for HB2626

[Mary Lou Grunwald]

Thanks Debbie I appreciate it

Sent from my iPad

> On 22 Mar 2017, at 3:04 PM, Deborah Kent Stein via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Please use this version of the support letter for HB2626, which includes
> contact information for David Meyer, chair of the NFBI State Legislative
> Committee. Thank you!
> 
> Below I have pasted a template letter regarding HB2626, the Parental Rights
> for the Blind Act. Please copy and paste it into an email and send it to
> your representative in the Illinois legislator. If you have trouble finding
> out who your representative is, contact Dave Meyer at
> datemeyer at sbcglobal.net <mailto:datemeyer at sbcglobal.net>  or Bill Reif at
> billreif at ameritech.net <mailto:billreif at ameritech.net> . Be sure to include
> your name, mailing address, and email address. Thank you for your help to
> ensure passage of this important piece of legislation!
> 
> Debbie Stein
> 
> Dkent5817 at att.net <mailto:Dkent5817 at att.net> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________
> 
> 
> 
> Dear Representative: 
> 
> I write to request your support of HB2626, the Parental Rights for the Blind
> Act. This bill, which was introduced by Representative Laura Fine, was voted
> out of committee on March 15. Several blind parents testified on behalf of
> this bill before the Domestic Relations Subcommittee on March 8, and I urge
> you to vote for its passage.
> 
> As a blind person and a member of the blind community, I know that thousands
> of blind people in this state and throughout the country are raising
> children successfully. However, members of the public often doubt the
> abilities of blind people to be good parents. HB 2626 is greatly needed. Too
> often custody decisions made by the courts and DCFS in cases where one or
> both parents are blind are based solely on the parent's blindness.   As
> blind people, we perform the tasks of parenting by using nonvisual
> techniques, just as we conduct every other aspect of our lives. Because they
> do not understand how the most basic tasks can be handled nonvisually,
> health care professionals, social workers, attorneys, and judges frequently
> assume that parenting without sight is impossible. 
> 
> The concerns that led to the creation of Hb 2626 are far from theoretical.
> Within the past few months in Illinois, a newborn child was removed from a
> blind mother while still in the hospital. DCFS accused the mother of abuse
> and neglect, even though the child had never left the hospital nursery. In a
> recent divorce case, a sighted mother argued that her blind spouse should
> not be permitted visitation with their children unless a sighted person was
> present at all times. When the marriage was intact, he was frequently the
> sole caregiver for the children, but his blindness was used against him
> during the divorce proceedings. HB2626 would prevent DCFS from overreaching
> based upon misconceptions about blindness, and it would stop estranged
> spouses from employing blindness as a weapon in court.
> 
> HB2626 still protects children if blindness should be a real issue. A judge
> simply would enter specific findings, and DCFS would have to provide the
> blind parent with the same supportive services given to any other parent.
> Right now Illinois case law holds that the ADA is inapposite when it comes
> to supportive services. Therefore, a parent who could care for children if
> networked into the blind parent community for mentoring and if taught
> adaptive techniques may be separated from a child unnecessarily.
> 
> Senator Mulroe has committed to help with this bill in the Senate. It has
> bipartisan support, as it was preintroduced by Senator Resin. Please support
> children and parents who should be together in a loving household. It is
> wrong to assume that blind people can't parent effectively based on the
> misunderstanding of the capacity of the blind. It is bad for children and it
> is bad for our state generally. Furthermore, the unnecessary removal of
> children from the home is fiscally irresponsible. For humane and fiscal
> reasons HB2626 is past due. Please give this bill your wholehearted support!
> For further information, contact David Meyer at datemeyer at sbcglobal.net.
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> [Name]
> [Address]
> [Email]
> 
> 
> 
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