DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services appealed a trial court's disposition order in a juvenile delinquency case, challenging whether the court properly ordered placement of a mildly retarded 14-year-old child in a specific residential treatment facility within five days. The appellate court held that while the court may designate a facility, it cannot unilaterally impose a specific time limitation for placement without considering statutory procedures.
The court held that while a trial court may designate a specific residential treatment facility chosen by HRS, it cannot unilaterally prescribe a specific time limitation for placement. The court must follow the procedures set forth in section 39.046 and Chapter 394 of Florida Statutes when placement in a residential facility is necessary for professional medical services.
[1] A trial court errs by imposing a unilateral time limitation on the placement of a child in a specific residential treatment facility when the Department of Health and Reh…
[2] A court's written order must be construed to reflect its actual intent, and if inconsistent with an oral pronouncement, the matter may be remanded for clarification.
Previewing 2 of 4 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“If the oral pronouncement is what the court intended, it was error to do so. Section 39.052(3), Florida Statutes (1991) limits the court's powers of disposition to a restrictiveness level found in section 39.054, Florida Statutes.”
Establishes that the trial court exceeded its statutory authority by attempting to impose a specific time limitation for placement.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceC.E.P., a mildly-retarded 14-year-old boy, was placed in an HRS shelter at age 11 and subsequently had his parents' rights terminated. He was charged …
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PETERSON, Judge.
C.E.P. is a mildly-retarded boy of 14 years of age. He was placed in an HRS shelter at the age of 11 and eventually his parents’ rights were terminated. The charge of sexual battery on a child under 12 underlying this delinquency proceeding against him occurred in the home of prospective adoptive parents.
At the adjudicatory hearing pursuant to section 39.052, Florida Statutes (1991), the child pled no contest and the court ordered a predisposition report within 60 days. The public defender and HRS made known to the trial court their choice of a specific facility for custodial residential treatment. The trial court orally ordered that the child be released from a juvenile detention center to the custody of HRS-for placement at the chosen facility, and advised that it was holding the disposition hearing in abeyance. Unfortunately, the public defender requested that the trial court require HRS to place the child in the specific facility within five days of the hearing and the court did so, even though HRS had explained earlier that it was attempting to work out the financial arrangements with the facility. The trial court’s subsequent written order seems to differ from the oral order announced at the adjudicatory hearing. The written order requires that the child be placed in the custody of HRS and be released from the Juvenile Detention Center within five days; it is silent as to whether HRS was to place the child in the residential facility within five days.
We cannot conclude from the written order that the court required placement in the specific facility within five days although that appears to be the oral pronouncement at the adjudicatory hearing. If the oral pronouncement is what the court intended, it was error to do so. Section 39.052(3), Florida Statutes (1991) limits the court’s powers of disposition to a restrictiveness level found in section 39.054, Florida Statutes. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. State, 616 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). Additionally, since the child has not yet been adjudicated a delinquent and the court has found that placement in a residential facility is necessary so that C.E.P. can obtain professional medical services, the procedures set forth in section 39.046, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 394 (1991) are applicable and have not been applied.
We construe the written order entered after the adjudicatory hearing to require C.E.P. to be released to the custody of HRS within five days and that C.E.P. is to be eventually placed in the specified residential treatment facility, a facility chosen by HRS. There is no specified time within which the placement is to be made. This construction is consistent with the written order but is inconsistent with the oral order. We must, therefore, remand for further proceedings to allow the trial court to clarify its intent as to the predisposition treatment of C.E.P. If HRS is in agreement with the designation of a specific residential treatment facility in the order, the court may designate without committing error, but prescribing a unilateral time limitation is improper. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. State, 616 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993); Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. V.L., 583 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 5th DCA), rev. denied, 591 So. 2d 185 (Fla.1991).
ORDER VACATED; CAUSE REMANDED.
THOMPSON, J., concurs.
W. SHARP, J., concurs in result only, without opinion.
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Cited By
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State v. E.W., 704 So. 2d 1148 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…s placement in that case was pursuant to her dependency. Here, E.W.’s placement was pursuant to his adjudication of delinquency. We also reverse the ordering of placement within five days. See Department of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. State, 625 So. 2d 92 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993). [*1149] Counsel for the juvenile and his mother waited until the day prior to oral argument here to file a waiver of oral argument, occasioning needless cost and inconvenience to appellant and its counsel. We disapprove of such…
Authorities Cited
- Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. V.L., 583 So. 2d 765 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991)
- Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. State, 616 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 5th DCA 1993)