IN THE INTEREST OF T.S., A CHILD, APPELLANT,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1985-03-14
No. BA-215
BOOTH, SHIVERS and ZEHMER, JJ., concur.
471 So. 2d 543 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1985) Caution
Cited by 16 cases

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Synopsis

A Florida appellate court reversed a permanent termination of parental rights because the trial court failed to make sufficient factual findings to support the grounds alleged for termination. The court also noted a procedural defect: no official record was made of the hearing testimony in violation of juvenile procedure rules.


Holding

The court reversed the final judgment because it contained insufficient findings of fact to support a permanent commitment. The trial court failed to make specific findings that would constitute abandonment or neglect as statutorily defined, and merely set forth legal conclusions without necessary supporting factual findings. The remand must be made at the State's expense due to the procedural violation of failing to record testimony.


Headnotes

[1] A finding of abandonment, for the purpose of terminating parental rights in an adoption proceeding, must be based upon clear and convincing evidence that a parent has aba…

[2] Abandonment is defined as a situation where a parent makes no provision for the child's support and makes little or no effort to communicate with the child, demonstrating…

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Key Quotes

“We reverse the final judgment because it contains insufficient findings of fact to support a permanent commitment.”

The core holding explaining why the trial court's order was improper and must be reversed.

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Facts & Procedural History

The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services sought permanent termination of the appellant mother's parental rights to her child T.S. The peti…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant appeals from an order permanently terminating her parental rights as natural mother of T.S., a minor child. We reverse the final judgment because it contains insufficient findings of fact to support a permanent commitment. The petition for permanent commitment alleged three statutory grounds: (1) appellant had abandoned T.S.; (2) appellant had failed to comply substantially with the performance agreement; and (3) appellant had neglected T.S. However, the trial court did not specifically find that appellant had abandoned or neglected T.S., nor did it set forth findings of fact which would constitute abandonment or neglect as defined in Sections 39.01(1) and 39.01(27), Florida Statutes (1983).1 Furthermore, the final judgment merely implies that appellant failed to comply substantially with the performance agreement. The order sets forth legal conclusions without the necessary supporting factual findings. In Interest of A.B., 444 So. 2d 981 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Accordingly, we reverse the cause and remand for a new hearing, with the record to be made at the expense of the State. Rule 8.220(e), Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, provides:

A record of the testimony in all hearings shall be made by an official court reporter, a court approved stenographer, or by a recording device. The record shall be preserved until the time for taking an appeal has expired. Testimony shall be transcribed only upon order of the court. In the case here, no record was made, contrary to the requirement of Rule 8.220(e), Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure. If it becomes necessary, after remand, to transcribe the record, it will be done so only upon order of the court, pursuant to Rule 8.220(e), and the court will determine which party has the responsibility for cost of such transcription.

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent herewith.

BOOTH, SHIVERS and ZEHMER, JJ., concur. . Section 39.01(1), Florida Statutes (1983), defines "abandoned” as follows:

"Abandoned" means a situation in which a parent who, while being able, makes no provision for the child’s support and makes no effort to communicate with the child for a period of 6 months or longer. If a parent’s efforts to support and communicate with the child during such a 6-month period are, in the opinion of the court, only marginal efforts that do not evince a settled purpose to assume all parental duties, the court may declare the child to be abandoned.

Section 39.01(27), Florida Statutes (1933), defines "neglect” as follows:

"Neglect” occurs when a parent or other legal custodian, though financially able, deprives a child of, or allows a child to be deprived of, necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical treatment or permits a child to live in an environment when such deprivation or environment causes the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired or to be in danger of being significantly impaired.
Other
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

In our opinion, we reversed the cause because the order did not contain sufficient findings of fact to support permanent commitment. Since this court was advised that no record had been made, a new hearing was ordered. On motion for rehearing, appellee has now informed this court that, contrary to the parties’ assertions at oral argument, the proceedings were, in fact, tape-recorded but never transcribed. Therefore, since there does indeed exist a record of the final hearing, we modify our opinion to the extent that a new hearing is not required, but that the trial court, upon examination of the record of the final hearing, shall enter a final judgment containing the appropriate factual findings. Motion for rehearing is granted to the extent indicated, but is otherwise denied.

BOOTH, SHIVERS and ZEHMER, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • C.D. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 974 So. 2d 495 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008)
    …law and enter particularized factual findings were the trial court’s only error, we would reverse the order and remand for application of the correct law and entry of appropriate factual findings. See T.S. v. Dep’t of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 471 So. 2d 543, 544 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). However, in this case, the mother has correctly argued that the denial of her motion for reunification was not supported by competent substantial evidence. In other words, the order in this case is not merely procedurally f…
  • …permanent commitment, as well as the need for an early resolution of this case in order to provide a stable emotional environment for the children.2 [*157] In so concluding, we observe that this case is distinguishable from In the Interest of T.S., 471 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), where we found a judgment of permanent commitment insufficient because the findings recited therein did not specifically state that appellant had abandoned or neglected the child, but merely implied that she had failed to comply…
  • Celeste Fitzpatrick v. State, 515 So. 2d 319 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987)
    …of facts is particularly evident in cases such as the one at bar, where the facts supporting a finding of dependency are less than compelling.” In the Interest of G.D.H. & A.J.S., 498 So. 2d 676, 678 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). See In the Interest of T.S., 471 So. 2d 543 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985) (final judgment granting petition for permanent commitment of child to HRS for adoption reversed and remanded where judgment lacked sufficient findings of fact). We are mindful that an appellate court may nonetheless review a fac…

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