IN THE INTEREST OF N.W., R.W., R.W. AND R.W., EACH A CHILD

Fla. 1st DCA | 1987-04-30
No. BO-67
ERVIN and BARFIELD, JJ., concur.
506 So. 2d 80 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1987) Positive Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The state cannot be required to pay for a father's counseling services in a dependency proceeding absent specific legislative authorization or a constitutional right to such payment.


Headnotes

[1] The state cannot be required to pay for services absent legislative authorization or appropriation, unless the recipient has a constitutional right to such services.

[2] A court may order parents to participate in counseling for the rehabilitation of a dependent child, but this does not authorize the court to compel a governmental entity…

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Facts & Procedural History

Following a dependency adjudication, the trial court ordered the father to undergo counseling and required the Department of Health and Rehabilitative…

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Opinion of the Court
NIMMONS, Judge.

NIMMONS, Judge.

The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of the State of Florida (HRS) appeals from that portion of a dependency adjudication order requiring HRS to pay for counseling of the father of the four minor children who were adjudicated dependent. The father has appeared as appellee herein in support of the order. We reverse.

After a dependency hearing, the trial court adjudicated the children dependent, placed them in the custody of their mother, ordered the father to receive counseling from one of two specified counseling facilities and ordered HRS to pay for the counseling. The final order followed the recommendation made by HRS in its report to the trial court with the exception of the court’s requirement that HRS pay for the counseling. HRS appeals arguing that it cannot be required to pay for the father’s treatment.

The issues before us are twofold: first, whether the state is responsible for payment of the father’s counseling services; and, second, if so, which governmental agency must bear that responsibility. Be cause we answer the first inquiry in the negative, we need not reach the second.

The state has been held responsible for the payment of services in the absence of a legislative authorization or appropriation only where the party receiving the services has a constitutional right to such services. In the Interest of D.B. and D.S., 385 So. 2d 83 (Fla.1980), (state held responsible for payment of attorney’s fees for indigent participants in dependency proceedings where the proceedings could result in the permanent loss of parental rights). Other cases which have held the state responsible for fees where no constitutional right to the services is implicated have involved specific statutory authority for the services. See e.g. Simpson v. Merrill, 234 So. 2d 350 (Fla.1970); In the Interest of R. W, 409 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982).

The present case is unlike D.B., supra, in that D.B. involved a service that was sought by the party involved, namely provision of an attorney. In the instant case, the court has required the father to seek counseling. Nevertheless, we find D.B. analogous to the instant case since the trial court had authority to require that the father seek counseling and treatment. Section 39.41(6), Florida Statutes (1985), provides:

(6) In carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the court may order the natural parents or legal guardian of a child who is found to be dependent to participate in family counseling and other professional counseling activities deemed necessary for the rehabilitation of the child.

However, this statute does not authorize the trial court to require HRS or any government entity to pay for the counseling services. In D.B., the party was required to appear in court and sought provision of counsel. In the instant case, the father is required to receive counseling and seeks payment of the services. Therefore, the father must demonstrate a constitutional right to payment of these services before the state will be required to pay.

Whether there exists a constitutional due process right to provision of services by the state or, as in this case, payment of required services, must be evaluated by the facts and circumstances of each case. D.B., supra. In D.B., there arose a constitutional due process right to provision of counsel because the indigent participant was likely to lose permanent parental rights. In the instant case, however, the proceeding did not involve permanent commitment of the children to the custody of the department and there is no record evidence that the father is indigent. In fact, the only evidence is that the father is employed. We recognize that under some circumstances there may be a constitutional right to payment of these required services; however, the record in the case at bar does not support such a right.1

There being no specific statutory authority for the trial court to require the state to pay for the father’s treatment and no constitutional right to payment for such treatment, we find that the trial court erred in requiring HRS to pay for the services. That portion of the order is therefore

REVERSED.

ERVIN and BARFIELD, JJ., concur. . Our opinion should not be construed as precluding the father from asserting and attempting to prove circumstances establishing a due process right. We merely hold that the present record is insufficient in that regard.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Dep't OF Juv. Just. v. C.M., 704 So. 2d 1123 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)
    …of an agency and executive discretion in spending those appropriated funds, in derogation of the doctrine of separation of powers. See Department of Health and Rehabilitative Servs. v. Brooke, 573 So. 2d 363 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991); In Interest of N.W., 506 So. 2d 80, 81 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). These cases apply as equally to the DJJ and its administration of appropriated funds under CINS/FINS as to the former Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and its duties under juvenile dependency proceedings. Wh…
  • In the Interest of J.W., 591 So. 2d 1048 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …requiring HRS to pay for such counseling services must be supported either by statutory authorization or a showing by the recipient parents of a constitutional right to counseling services. See In Interest of N.W., R.W., R.W. and R.W., Each a Child, 506 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). As there is no statutory authorization for the trial court to require the state to pay for the counseling services, we must then ask if the parents have shown a constitutional right to such services. In Interest of D.B. and…
  • In the Interest of J.P., 586 So. 2d 485 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991)
    …utory authority for such an order. A court may hold the state responsible for payment of medical services only when authorized by statute or when the party receiving the services has a constitutional right to such services. In the Interest of N.W., 506 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). We reject the parents’ claim that the court was authorized by Section 39.42, Florida Statutes (1989), which appears in part IV of Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, relating to families and children in need of services. Section 39.01…

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