Christopher Etherden

The Children's Aid Society brought a child protection application seeking to make a two-year-old child with special needs a Crown ward without access.

The child had been in foster care since birth.

The mother had significant cognitive and physical limitations, and her five previous children had been made Crown wards.

The father had serious health issues, including stage 4 cancer.

The parents sought a supervision order placing the child in the mother's care.

The court found that the parents lacked the capacity and skills to care for the child and that a supervision order would not mitigate the risks.

The court ordered that the child be made a Crown ward without access to facilitate adoption.

The applicant children's aid society sought a finding that four children were in need of protection and an order for Crown wardship without access for the purposes of adoption.

The children had been apprehended due to severe neglect, hazardous living conditions, and exposure to domestic violence.

The respondent mother, who suffered from untreated complex post-traumatic stress disorder, sought the return of the children under a supervision order.

The court found the children in need of protection and ordered Crown wardship without access, concluding that the mother's unresolved trauma prevented her from safely parenting the children and that access would not be beneficial and could impair adoption opportunities.