Ceiling on foster care exceeded.

St. Catharines, ON -- Because statutory ceiling on foster care had been exceeded, Ontario Superior Court had option but had to choose between Crown wardship or returning child to the mother or extended family, Justice Linda M. Walters ruled in the case of a 2-year old boy.

According to the evidence presented by psychologist Dr. Shukri Amin, the mother functioned at the level of an adolescent and was scarcely able to care for herself, let alone her son. She could relate to and care for the boy for very brief periods but never on a prolonged or permanent basis. She had almost no ability to plan and her efforts at securing welfare, employment and housing fared badly. Since the child's birth, she was consistently unable to put the child's needs and interests ahead of her own.

According to the Niagara Region Children's Aid Society, she rejected counselling and programs for anger-management and parenting and quickly stopped attending because she denied having any shortcomings or any need for counselling and change.

The judge deemed the child would be at risk if placed in her care. Placement with members of her extended family also was fraught with significant risks that the court found unacceptable.

Faced with a parent who was unable to recognize her own faults and supremely confident that she had nothing to change, court was "not optimistic that things would improve in the near future". The child is healthy and adoptable and has already waited 2 years to see whether his mother could become a responsible caregiver and could wait no longer. Justice Walters approved Crown wardship without access for purposes of adoption. Children's Aid Society of Niagara Region and Sa. K.