Who do we serve?

The PPDLA Project advocates for parents facing challenges to their parental rights due to psychiatric disability. This statewide project is funded through the New York State Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities (CQCAPD). LSCNY is responsible for serving the 54 Upstate New York counties outside of New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County.

(To reach the downstate PPDLA program please go to: The Urban Justice Center)

About PPDLA:

The project was created to improve legal advocacy and, in turn, promote positive outcomes for families affected by psychiatric disabilities. PPDLA mainly provides information and referral, education and training, advocacy support, and resources to parents and their attorneys, and other stakeholders including children’s attorneys, community advocates, and the courts.

Our Goals:

Through legal research, networking and community outreach, the project seeks to assess the scope of the issue and generate an upstate clearinghouse of resources and information. We work to identify and address social and legal barriers particular to parents with psychiatric disabilities, and provide tools to remove or to overcome these barriers.

Education Initiative:

PPDLA has developed an education initiative to raise awareness about unfair treatment of parents with psychiatric disabilities under NY’s termination of parental rights statute. Read more...