Elizabeth Lightfoot, Pratiksha Dangle
Background: This article provides a comprehensive overview of the global peer-reviewed research literature on the involvement of parents with disabilities in child protection. Materials: Using a systematic scoping review methodology that initially retrieved 10,471 articles, we identified 135 peer-reviewed articles. We charted the articles based on publication year, location of study, discipline, type of parental disability, methods, aspect of child protection studies, and whose voice was centered in the study. Results: We found a sharp global and cross-disciplinary increase in articles on this topic since 2010, with studies conducted in 17 countries and published in journals related to disability, child welfare, social work, mental health, and health. The majority focus on parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental health disabilities. The most common areas of inquiry were the prevalence of child protection involvement and out-of-home care. Less common were articles about child protection processes, such as reporting, assessment, substantiation, services, case disposition, court processes, recurrence, and intervention. Most of the data used in the studies came from the professionals’ perspectives.Conclusion: Our study highlights significant gaps in the research and underscores the need for new directions in this field.