J.G., THE MOTHER, PETITIONER,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, AND THE GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM, RESPONDENTS

Fla. 3d DCA | 2017-06-14
No. 3D17-697
Before ROTHENBERG, SCALES, and LUCK, JJ.
220 So. 3d 555 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (2017) Positive Treatment
Cited by 7 cases

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Synopsis

A mother petitioned for certiorari review of a trial court order terminating the Department of Children and Families' supervision and granting unsupervised visitation without holding a hearing on her motion for reunification. The appellate court granted the petition, finding the trial court departed from essential requirements of law by failing to conduct the statutorily required evidentiary hearing.


Holding

The trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by failing to conduct a hearing on the mother's motion for reunification before terminating protective supervision. Section 39.522(2) and (3) require the court to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the parent has substantially complied with the case plan and whether reunification would be in the child's best interest and safety.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must conduct an evidentiary hearing on a parent's motion for reunification when the issue is whether a child should be reunited with the parent.

[2] A trial court must determine whether a parent has substantially complied with a case plan to the extent that the child's safety, well-being, and health are not endangered…

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Key Quotes

“In cases where the issue before the court is whether a child should be reunited with a parent, the court shall determine whether the parent has substantially complied with the terms of the case plan to the extent that the safety, well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional health of the child is not endangered by the return of the child to the home.”

This quote from section 39.522(2) establishes the statutory requirement for an evidentiary hearing on reunification motions.

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Facts & Procedural History

The mother's minor children, including M.G., were adjudicated dependent in February 2016. The Department filed case plans with the goal of reunifying …

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Opinion of the Court
ROTHENBERG, J.

CONFESSION OF ERROR

ROTHENBERG, J.

J.G., the Mother (“Mother”), petitions this Court for a writ of certiorari to review the trial court’s order terminating the Department of Children and Families’ (“Department”) supervision over the Mother’s minor child, M.G. Based on the Department’s proper and commendable confession of error, we grant the petition, quash. the order under review, and remand for an evidentiary hearing consistent with section 39.522(2), (3), Florida Statutes (2017).

The Mother’s minor children, including M.G., were adjudicated dependent in February 2016. Thereafter, several case plans were filed with the stated goal of reuniting the Mother and M.G. On January 12, 2017, the Mother filed a motion for reunification, asserting that she had completed her case plan services and had been having unsupervised overnight visitations with M.G.

Without conducting a hearing on the Mother’s motion for reunification, the trial court, on February 23, 2017, entered an order, over the Mother’s objection, which granted the Department’s motion to terminate protective supervision as to M.G., who was in the custody of her non-offending father; allowed the Mother unsupervised visitation with M.G. twice a week for four hours per visit; and stated that the trial court was not retaining jurisdiction.

In this petition for writ of certio-rari, the Mother contends that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of law by granting the Department’s motion to terminate protective services without conducting a hearing on the Mother’s motion for reunification.1 We agree.

*557As the Department has properly conceded, the Mother is entitled to an eviden-tiary hearing on her motion for reunification. Section 39.522(2), Florida Statutes (2017), provides:

In cases where the issue before the court is whether a child should be reunited with a parent, the court shall determine whether the parent has substantially complied with the terms of the case plan to the extent that the safety, well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional health of the child is not endangered by the return of the child to the home.

Further, section 39.522(3) requires the trial court to determine whether the minor child should nonetheless stay with the non-offending parent even though the trial court has determined that the offending parent is in substantial compliance with the case plan. In making this determination, “the standard shall be that the safety, well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional health of the child would not be endangered by reunification and that reunification would be in the best interest of the child.”

We, therefore, grant the petition, quash the order under review, and remand with instructions for the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing consistent with section 39.522(2), (3), Florida Statutes (2017).

Petition granted; order quashed; remanded for further proceedings.


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Citator

Cited By

  • R.D.S. v. The Dep't OF Child. & Families, 263 So. 3d 183 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)
    …shown" and notice. J.B. v. M.M., 92 So. 3d 888, 889 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). The directive, in isolation, meets the standards we have enumerated for certiorari relief in M.M., above, or this Court's decision in J.G. v. Department of Children & Families, 220 So. 3d 555, 556 n.1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2017). We quash the specific provision of the trial court's order requiring the mental health examination of the parents to include "the possibility of the condition of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy" (though the examining mental…
  • L.S. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 274 So. 3d 556 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019)

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