DAVID PINGREE, SECRETARY OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLANT,
v.
PORTIA ELAINE QUAINTANCE, DEMETRIUS DENESE QUAINTANCE, SEAN CONNERY QUAINTANCE, AND LATRICIA ANN SPENCER, BY AND THROUGH HER NEXT FRIEND, RUBY PEARL QUAINTANCE, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHERS SIMILARLY SITUATED, APPELLEES
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services appealed a trial court's summary judgment ordering it to comply with statutory requirements for judicial review of children in foster care. The appellate court affirmed, holding that Section 409.168 creates a mandatory right to judicial review for children in continuous foster care for six months, and that budgetary constraints do not excuse non-compliance.
The court held that Section 409.168 creates a mandatory right to judicial review in all cases where children have been adjudicated dependent and remained in continuous foster care for six months. The court further held that denial of this mandatory review creates irreparable harm for which injunctive relief is appropriate, and that budgetary limitations do not excuse the Department's non-compliance.
[1] A statute requiring periodic review of children in foster care creates a right to judicial review for children who have been adjudicated dependent and remained in continu…
[2] The denial of mandatory judicial review for children in foster care constitutes irreparable harm for which injunctive relief is appropriate.
Previewing 2 of 6 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The Legislature finds that 7 out of 10 children placed in foster care do not return to their biological families after the first year and that permanent homes could be found for many of these children if their status were reviewed periodically and they were found eligible for adoption.”
Establishes the legislative intent behind the mandatory judicial review requirement in Section 409.168
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceOn August 9, 1977, appellees filed a class action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against the Department. The Department admitted in its ans…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Motion For Relief From Judgment cases and more on FLexlaw
WENTWORTH, Judge.
Appellant seeks review of the trial court’s order denying a motion for new trial, rehearing and relief from judgment. We affirm.
On August 9, 1977, appellees filed a class action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to compel the Department to institute judicial review of all cases in which a child had been committed to foster care for a continuous six-month period as provided in Section 409.168(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1977). In its answer and in its response to a request for admissions, the Department admitted that it had not instituted proceedings in each case as required by the statute.
Pursuant to motion, the trial court entered a summary judgment against the Department mandatorily enjoining it from failing to initiate the required judicial review. The Department moved for a new trial, rehearing and relief from judgment asserting that there had been no showing of irreparable harm and that the Department was in substantial compliance. The Department argued below and on appeal that it was excused from complete compliance due to its budgetary limitations.
We agree with the trial court and now hold that Section 409.168, Florida Statutes (1977), creates a right to judicial review in all cases in which children have been adjudicated dependent and have remained in continuous foster care for six months.1 We note especially the statement of legislative intent found in Section 409.-168(1), Florida Statutes (1977), which provides:
The Legislature finds that 7 out of 10 children placed in foster care do not return to their biological families after the first year and that permanent homes could be found for many of these children if their status were reviewed periodically and they were found eligible for adoption. It is the intent of the Legislature, therefore, to help ensure a permanent home for children in foster care by requiring periodic review and report on their status.
We further hold that the denial of this mandatory review creates irreparable harm for which injunctive relief is particularly appropriate. Since the Department admitted that it was not in compliance with the statutory requirements imposed upon it by Section 409.168, Florida Statutes (1977), the trial court correctly determined that there existed no material issue of fact and appropriately entered a summary judgment.
The trial court also correctly denied the Department’s posttrial motions. The purpose of a motion for rehearing is to give the trial court an opportunity to consider matters which it failed to consider or overlooked. Diamond Cab Co. of Miami v. King, 146 So. 2d 889 (Fla.1962). The motions below merely set forth matters which had previously been considered by the trial court. The affidavit attached to the motions reflecting the Department’s budgetary request for the years 1978 through 1981 presented the trial court with no new material information upon which it could alter its decision.
The trial court appropriately denied the motion for new trial because the matter was heard without a jury. Fla.R. Civ.P. 1.530. Motion for relief from judgment is insufficient. The only criterion which could arguably apply to this cause is that the motion presented newly discovered evidence. Since the budgetary request was obviously within the Department’s control, the evidence cannot be newly discovered. Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.540.
Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is AFFIRMED.
McCORD, J., and WOODIE A. LILES (Ret.), Associate Judge, concur. . The fact that the statutory duty to institute judicial review now falls on the clerk of the circuit court has no bearing on our resolution of this issue. § 409.168(3)(f)2, Fla.Stat. (Supp. 1980).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Francisco v. Victoria Marine Shipping, Inc., 486 So. 2d 1386 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986)…y matters (or motion for new trial of matters heard by a jury). Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.530. The purpose of a motion for rehearing is to give the trial court an opportunity to consider matters which it overlooked or failed to consider, Pingree v. Quaintance, 394 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), and to correct any error if it becomes convinced that it has erred. Elmore v. Palmer First National Bank & Trust Co. of Sarasota, 221 So. 2d 164, 166 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969). The second mechanism is the motion for relief from judgmen…
-
The Balmoral Condo. Ass'n v. Grimaldi, 107 So. 3d 1149 (Fla. 3d DCA 2013)…, a party may move for rehearing of final orders in order “to give the trial court an opportunity to consider matters which it overlooked or failed to consider.” Carollo v. Carollo, 920 So. 2d 16, 19 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) (citing Pingree v. Quaintance, 394 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)). As this Court has explained, under rule 1.530, [ a] rehearing is a second consideration of a cause for the sole purpose of calling to the attention of the court any error, omission, or oversight that may have been committed in…
-
In the Interest of A.B. v. State, 444 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983)…neither a performance agreement nor the legislation requiring it. We assume rather that the court in C.M.H. was without the benefit of a performance agreement, as perhaps many were in the transition period following 1980. Cf. Pingree v. Quaintance, 394 So. 2d 161 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), in which HRS cited budgetary limitations deterring the six-month judicial review required by 1977 legislation. Dependency due to parental abandonment, though the child is absent in foster care, is of course a demonstrable thing…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Diamond CAB Co. OF Miami v. King, 146 So. 2d 889 (Fla. 1962)