My Family Belongs to Me: A Child’s Right to Family Integrity
Shanta Trivedi, University of Baltimore
On a daily basis
in the United States, the government separates children from their parents
based on their parents’ immigration status, incarceration, or involvement in
the child welfare system. Under Fourteenth Amendment due process jurisprudence,
it is clear that parents have a fundamental liberty interest in their
relationship with their children. It would seem sensible, then, that the
child’s right to that same relationship would be just as clear. Surprisingly,
it is not. Some scholars point to limited Supreme Court dicta to argue that
children do have a constitutional right to family integrity. However, the Court
has never squarely answered the question of what rights a child may assert to
protect their familial relationships, and only a few lower federal courts have
addressed the question. Most are silent. This ambiguity has considerable
implications in myriad contexts, including cases where parents’ and children’s
rights are in conflict or other familial relationships (such as those with
siblings) are infringed upon.
This article is
the first to comprehensively examine whether and under what legal authority a
child has an autonomous right to their family. The article analyzes the legal
implications, as well as the benefits and disadvantages for children and their
families, if such a right exists. In undertaking this exploration, the article
also examines the historical, cultural, doctrinal, and theoretical principles
supporting a child’s independent right to family integrity, including
consideration of international laws and conventions.
Oral Health Parity: A Call for Health Justice through Equal Access to
Oral Healthcare
Jessica Millward, Georgetown University Law Center
Lack of access to oral healthcare
can be deadly. In 2007, Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy, died as the result
of an abscessed tooth. Although Deamonte’s family had been insured by Medicaid,
which provides dental coverage to children under Medicaid EPSDT, coverage
lapsed and Deamonte’s parents could not access preventive dental care for him
despite repeated efforts. Even when the family had access to Medicaid, they had
trouble accessing a dentist who would treat Deamonte and his brother.
Children’s dental needs are not the only unmet dental needs. For adults insured
through Medicaid, dental coverage is an optional service. States that opt-in to
providing Medicaid dental coverage frequently cap coverage to the extent that
insured individuals cannot access care. In this, Medicaid mirrors available
private dental insurance, which is often woefully inadequate. Worse, Medicare
actually prohibits coverage related to the care of teeth.
Using the Mental Health Parity and
Addiction Equality Act of 2008 as a model and drawing on the Lifecourse Health
Development Theory to support the need for oral healthcare for all ages and
life stages, I propose a path for coverage of oral health services across all
health insurance models, both public and private.