IN THE INTEREST OF T.D., A CHILD
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The Florida District Court of Appeal reversed a termination of parental rights order because it was based primarily on the mother's violation of a performance agreement rather than on findings of abuse, abandonment, or neglect as required by law. The court remanded for the trial court to make explicit findings of abuse, abandonment, or neglect supported by clear and convincing evidence before terminating parental rights.
A termination of parental rights cannot be based solely on violation of a performance agreement. The trial court must make explicit findings of abuse, abandonment, or neglect supported by clear and convincing evidence before terminating parental rights, even when evidence of prospective neglect due to mental illness exists in the record.
[1] An order of permanent commitment terminating parental rights must include a finding of abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
[2] Termination of parental rights based solely upon a violation of a performance agreement is unconstitutional.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the order appealed from is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings due to the order's failure to make a finding of abuse, abandonment or neglect.”
Establishes the core basis for reversal—the trial court failed to make required findings of abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceT.D. is a child whose parental rights were sought to be terminated. The mother failed to comply with a performance agreement. Evidence in the record i…
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ERVIN, Judge.
This is an appeal from an order of permanent commitment terminating parental rights. The order appealed from is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings due to the order’s failure to make a finding of abuse, abandonment or neglect.
The trial court’s order is based primarily on the mother’s failure to comply with a performance agreement. The order was issued prior to the opinion of the Florida Supreme Court in In the Interest of R.W., 495 So. 2d 133 (Fla.1986), in which the court held that termination of parental rights based solely upon a violation of a performance agreement was unconstitutional.
While there is evidence in the record regarding the mother’s prospective neglect of T.D. due to schizophrenia, the order contains no finding of neglect by the mother consistent with the clear and convincing evidence standard.1 Contrast In the Interest of A.T., 490 So. 2d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), affirming an order of permanent commitment, despite the failure of the trial court to include a statement of the facts upon which it based its order. Unlike the order before us, the A.T. order included a specific finding of neglect.
5. The Court finds that in addition to the lack of significant progress in complying with the Performance Agreement, the mother is suffering from an apparent mental illness which could interfere with her care of the child, as witnessed by her interjections at this hearing, which statements by her were irrelevant, improbable and incomprehensible by this Court.
We therefore reverse the order directing the child’s permanent commitment, and remand the cause for further proceedings by the trial court to determine first, whether there exists abuse, abandonment or neglect by clear and convincing evidence, and, if so, whether there should then be a termination of parental rights. We defer to the discretion of the trial court to decide if such determination can be made on the existing record, or whether a new hearing is necessary. We find the second issue raised by the mother is without merit and decline to discuss it.
REVERSED AND REMANDED for further proceedings.
NIMMONS and BARFIELD, JJ., concur. . The court made the following finding of fact regarding the mother’s mental condition:
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In the Interest of T.D., 537 So. 2d 173 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989)…ppellant’s failure to comply with the performance agreement in terminating her rights. The case was remanded for a determination of whether abuse, abandonment or neglect existed to warrant termination of the mother’s rights. In the Interest of T.D., 501 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). On remand, the trial court ordered a new hearing to evaluate appellant’s ability to provide a proper home environment. The court directed her to submit to a psychiatric examination prior to the proceedings. Dr. Louis Makarowski…
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Laurian Anne Rauen Spankie v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 505 So. 2d 1357 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987)…how sufficient the evidence in this case might be if relied on by the trial judge to support some proper allegations of proper grounds. If the trial court based its order even in part on improper grounds the order should be reversed. See In re T.D., 501 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). The issue is not the sufficiency of the evidence but whether the mother’s parental rights have been permanently terminated in accordance with law and due process and after compliance with all legal requirements. They have not an…
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In the Interest of R.N.G., 507 So. 2d 136 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987)…had been either abused, abandoned, or neglected, as required by section 39.41(l)(f), Florida Statutes (1985). In the Interest of R.W., 495 So. 2d 133 (Fla.1986); In the Interest of S.N.W., 501 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986); In the Interest of T.D., 501 So. 2d 93 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings, with leave for the trial court to determine whether the taking of further evidence will be necessary, or whether a determination can be made on the existing record. REVE…
Authorities Cited
- In the Interest of R.W. v. Pollock, 495 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1986)
- In the Interest of A.T. and T.T. v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 490 So. 2d 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)