Parents can’t be faulted for their poverty, judge rules in toddler-custody case
HALIFAX — An impoverished Halifax-area couple have regained custody of their toddler daughter, after a judge declared: “There is a difference between parents who are poor, and poor parents.”
The province took the little girl into care in June 2016 because of her parents’ multiple challenges, including mental-health issues, interpersonal conflict and unstable living circumstances brought on by poverty.
But Justice Elizabeth Jollimore said the biracial toddler was not put in a “culturally appropriate” foster home, and noted the couple have worked to improve their circumstances and relationship prospects.
“The parents cannot be faulted for their inability to afford homes in better neighbourhoods,” the Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge said in a written ruling released Wednesday.