T.C., A CHILD, PETITIONER,
v.
JAQUELINE LAYNE, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PALM BEACH JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER, RESPONDENT

Fla. 4th DCA | 1999-02-17
No. 99-0144
DELL and HAZOURI, JJ., concur.
725 So. 2d 1278 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1999) Caution
Cited by 8 cases

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Holding

A juvenile's departure from home-based community control constitutes absconding from a 'community control program,' justifying detention.


Headnotes

[1] A juvenile's placement on community control, even if restricted to residing at home, constitutes a "community control program" for purposes of determining escape or absco…

[2] The terms "community control" and "community control program" are used interchangeably within the Juvenile Delinquency statute.

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Facts & Procedural History

A juvenile, placed on community control at home, was arrested for trespass after sleeping in a vacant house. A pick-up order was issued for violating …

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Opinion of the Court
STEVENSON, J.

STEVENSON, J.

Juvenile T.C. filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging her detention. This case became moot when T.C. was re leased, but it involves a controversy capable of repetition, yet evading review, which should be considered on its merits.

T.C. had been placed on community control as a result of an earlier juvenile adjudication and was ordered to reside at her home. The instant detention came about as a result of her arrest for trespass when she was found sleeping in a vacant house. A pick-up order was subsequently issued for violation of community control. T.C. was then ordered into secure detention for the dual reasons that she had escaped or absconded from a community control program and because she qualified for detention under the Department of Juvenile Justice’s risk assessment calculation which had been enhanced for the same reason. See §§ 985.213(2)(a)-(b), 985.215(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (1997).1 It is T.C.’s position that she did not qualify for detention because community control imposed while an offender is allowed to remain at home should not be considered a “community control program.” Further, T.C. argues that 10 of the 14 points on her risk assessment calculation were improperly awarded for “escape or absconding” and that had those points not been awarded, she would have qualified for home detention. We disagree with petitioner’s position and deny the petition.

Under either theory, the detention order was proper only if the petitioner’s act of leaving her approved residence while on community control can be considered escape or absconding from a “community control program.” The Definitions section of Chapter 985, the Juvenile Delinquency statute, does not include a definition of the term “community control program,” although that term is used throughout the chapter.2 See §§ 985.03 (definitions); 985.215(2)(a) (detention); 985.228(6) (adjudications); 985.23(3)(d), (4) (disposition hearings); 985.231(l)(a)l (dispositions); 985.233(l)(a) (sentencing). Section 985.23(4) suggests that the term “community control programs” includes a broader range of supervision programs than the petitioner contemplates:

If the court determines not to adjudicate and commit to the department, then the court shall determine what community-based sanctions it will impose in a community control program for the child. Community-based sanctions may include, but are not limited to, participation in substance abuse treatment, restitution in money or in kind, a curfew, revocation or suspension of the driver’s license of the child, community service, and appropriate educational programs as determined by the district school board.

(emphasis added).

The term “community control” is defined in section 985.03(12) of the statute:

“Community control” means the legal status of probation created by law and court order in cases involving a child who has been found to have committed a delinquent act. Community control is an individualized program in which the freedom of the child is limited and the child is restricted to noninstitutional quarters or restricted to the child’s home in lieu of commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

In order for this petitioner to be entitled to relief from the detention, we would have to draw a distinction between the term “community control” and “community control pro gram.” In our view, no such distinction can be read into the statutes, especially where the definition of “community control” refers to it as an “individualized program.” Id. When the relevant statutory provisions are read together and in context, it is apparent that the legislature used the terms “community control” and “community control program” interchangeably. "Community control program” means a form of intensive supervised custody in the community, including surveillance on weekends and holiday, administered by officers with restricted caseloads. Community control is an individualized program in which the freedom of the offender is restricted within the community, home, or noninstitutional residential placement and specific sanctions are imposed and enforced.

Supervision within the home is expressly included in that definition. However, there is nothing in Chapter 985 to indicate that the Youthful Offender definition is incorporated in the Juvenile Delinquency statute. Accepting the petitioner’s allegation about the factual basis for the violation as true, that is that she left her home-based supervision overnight without permission, then her detention was proper. Accordingly, the petition is denied summarily.

PETITION DENIED.

DELL and HAZOURI, JJ., concur. . Florida Statutes section 985.215(2)(a) provides: Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), a child taken into custody and placed into nonse-cure or home detention care or detained in secure detention care prior to a detention hearing may continue to be detained by the court if:

(a) The child is alleged to be an escapee or an absconder from a commitment program, a community control program, furlough, or aftercare supervision, or is alleged to have escaped while being lawfully transported to or from such program or supervision.

. The term is defined in section 958.03(2), the Youthful Offender Statute:


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • K.E. v. Dep't OF Juv. Just., 963 So. 2d 864 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007)
    …at issue because they are “capable of repetition yet evading review.” See K.P. v. State, 952 So. 2d 1229 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007); T.T. v. Esteves, 828 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); W.B.T. v. Esteves, 825 So. 2d 1055 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002); T.C. v. Layne, 725 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). Juvenile detention is a remedy that is used only for a brief period of time. Furthermore, the subsequent home detention order merely changed the form of the restraint. It did not remove the need to determine whether the child w…
  • B.M. v. Dobuler, 979 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
    …At most, B.M. — like Z.B. and not unlike G.T. — violated curfew, or, as the trial court itself at one point observed, on occasion chose simply to “stay[ ] away from home for [several] days at time.”6 The State calls our attention to T.C. v. Layne, 725 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), and argues that it is more apposite on the facts of our case than Z.B. We disagree. In T.C., the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a decision of the juvenile court, which ordered T.C. to secure detention “for the dual rea…
  • Z.B. v. Dep't OF Juv. Just., 938 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006)
    …on if the juvenile is alleged to be an absconder from probation. See § 985.215(2)(a), Fla. Stat. (2005); D.H. v. Esteves, 790 So. 2d 1275 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001). DJJ stated that the juvenile statutes do not define absconder, but cited to T.C. v. Layne, 725 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999), where the court upheld a juvenile’s secure detention upon a finding that leaving home-based supervision overnight without permission was absconding. Our analysis starts with the oft cited observation that the power to place in…

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