C.R. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 11041 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 3d Dist. August 8, 2018) The Third DCA reversed and remanded the order that terminated mother’s parental rights pursuant to §§ 39.806(1)(e)(1) and 39.806(1)(e)(3), because the evidence did not support the trial court’s finding that mother had failed to […]
Case Plan Compliance
J.S. v. Department of Children and Families, 2017 WL 902184 (Fla. 5th DCA) Mother appealed termination of her parental rights based solely upon her failure to follow a case plan. The children were originally removed from Mother due to domestic violence. Four months before the termination of parental rights trial, random drug tests and substance […]
In re N.L., 210 So. 3d 1288 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2016)
Father appealed an order adjudicating his child dependent. The Second District Court of Appeal reversed. The trial court found the child to be dependent as to Father solely based on Father’s failure to comply with a case plan for older children previously found dependent. No evidence was presented that the child was at “substantial risk of imminent abuse,abandonment […]
Florida Department of Children and Families v. N.H., 2015 WL 5132689 (Fla. 3rd DCA)
The Florida Department of Children and Families petitioned for a writ of certiorari seeking to quash an order relieving the father of complying with his case plan. The Third District Court of Appeal (Third DCA) granted the petition and quashed that portion of the order. Father consented to a dependency adjudication of his child based […]
J.C. v. Department of Children and Families, 172 So.3d 515 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2015)
Mother appealed judgment terminating her parental rights. The Third District Court of Appeal (Third DCA) affirmed. Although the Third DCA found that that trial court’s order was “less than precise” in finding that Mother breached her case plan and that she would be unlikely or unable to comply with the case plan by its expiration, […]
In re R.T., 2015 WL 1259666 (Fla. 2d DCA)
Mother petitioned the court for a writ of certiorari seeking to quash the trial court’s order requiring her three teenage sons to undergo therapeutic assessments in connection with the denial of Mother’s motion to amend a safety plan prohibiting Mother’s husband, S.K., from having contact with her sons. The Second District Court of Appeal (Second […]
C.B. v. Department of Children and Families, 148 So.3d 833 (Fla. 5th DCA 2014)
Father appealed part of the trial court’s dispositional order requiring him to participate in anger management. The Department conceded error in that the evidence presented to the trial court failed to demonstrate a need for such counseling. Florida Rule of Juvenile Procedure 8.410(b)(4) provides that the case plan be “meaningful and designed to address the […]
S.S. v. Department of Children and Families, 75 So. 3d 818 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011)
The mother appealed the trial court’s order terminating her parental rights to her children – three oldest children and one child born after the dependency proceedings began. One of the arguments made by the mother was that the Department of Children and Families (department) could not include the phrase “no new law violations” in her […]
In re G.M., Jr., 71 So.3d 924 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)
The father appealed the trial court’s order terminating his parental rights based on his failure to complete his case plan tasks and abandonment. The father argued he was unable to comply with his case plan because the Department of Children and Family Services (department) failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify the father with his […]
T.N.L. v. Department of Children and Families, 2014 WL 223001 (Fla. 4th DCA)
The mother appealed the trial court’s order denying her motion for reunification and placing her child with the father. The mother argued the trial court erred in denying reunification because she was in substantial compliance with her case plan and the trial court did not make any findings that the child’s safety and well-being would […]
In re A.K., 2014 WL 1696142(Fla. 2d DCA)
The father (a non-offending parent living in Tennessee), appealed the trial court’s order setting permanent guardianship and placement of father’s children with their maternal grandparents and denying father’s motion for reunification. When the Department of Children and Families (department) moved to terminate services and request the children be placed permanently with the grandparents, the department […]
