M.A.P., AS PARENT OF S.R.P., A CHILD, APPELLANT,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, APPELLEE

Fla. 5th DCA | 1999-09-17

No. 99-1106

ANTOON, C.J., COBB and PETERSON, JJ., concur.

739 So. 2d 1287 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (1999) Positive Treatment

Cited by 14 cases

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Holding

The court held that the trial court properly terminated parental rights after the appellant failed to substantially comply with the case plan and that termination was in the child's manifest best interests.

Facts & Procedural History

The appellant's parental rights were terminated after she failed to comply with her case plan, which included testing positive for cocaine, denying dr…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

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Topics

Manifest Best Interests Of The Child Case Plan Compliance Dependency Proceedings Termination Of Parental Rights

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Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

The appellant challenges the termination of parental rights to her child who, along with the appellant, tested positive for cocaine on the child’s birth date, November 9, 1997.

Shortly after the child’s birth, the appellant consented to the child being adjudicated dependent. Fourteen months later, the appellant’s parental rights were terminated after the appellant was deemed to have failed to comply with the terms of her case plan. In the order of termination, the trial court noted that the appellant had tested positive for cocaine in September of 1998, and that throughout the period of the dependency, she had denied the need for drug treatment. The appellant also repeatedly violated probation in several criminal cases, was arrested for domestic violence, was incarcerated, failed to maintain stable employment, failed to provide financial support for her child, and failed to exercise approximately half of her visitation opportunities.

The appellant asserts that the Department of Children and Families rendered insufficient assistance to allow her to succeed in her case plan. The Department, however, cannot force the appellant to attend meetings, maintain a stable home or job, maintain a drug free residence or visit her child at every available opportunity. We find the trial court properly concluded that appellant failed to substantially comply with the case plan and that it was in the manifest best interests of the child to terminate appellant’s parental rights. §§ 39.806(l)(e); 39.810, Fla.Stat. (Supp. 1998).

The record also reflects compliance with section 39.465(l)(a), Florida Statutes (1997). The trial court advised appellant of the right to counsel at every stage of the proceedings and noted the advisement. Nothing in the record supports her contention that she was not so advised.

The order terminating appellant’s parental rights to S.R.P., a child, is affirmed.

AFFIRMED.

ANTOON, C.J., COBB and PETERSON, JJ., concur.

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Citator

Cited By

In the Interest of C.W.W. v. State, 788 So. 2d 1020 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001)

…ot find that these were conditions that could not be resolved through the provision of services. The trial court did not find that the Mother had attempted and failed in any type of drug treatment program. Cf. M.A.P. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 739 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (affirming termination after mother consistently denied the need for drug treatment); M.B. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 739 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999) (affirming termination after mother failed to remain drug free while w…
S.D. v. Dep't of Child. & Fam. Servs., 805 So. 2d 10 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001)

…ecide the question of further contact with the Child.” R.134-40. The above findings of the trial court as to the Mother’s addiction and violence are sufficient to form the bases for the termination. See M.A.P. v. Department of Children & Families, 739 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); M.B. v. Department of Children & Families, 739 So. 2d 716 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); In re K.C.C., 750 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999). [*15] The guardian ad litem2, in her report, recommended that the Mother’s parental rights not be ter…
D.B. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 87 So. 3d 1279 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012)

…under subsection [39.806](l)(c) .... ” (emphasis added). The evidence in this case supports the trial court’s determination that the provision of any further services to the Father would be futile. In M.A.P. v. Department of Children and Families, 739 So. 2d 1287 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999), a mother suffering from drug addiction contended termination of her parental rights was inappropriate because the Department rendered insufficient assistance to allow her to succeed in her case plan. The evidence showed, through…

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