Dependency Law Finder

Florida's dependency statutes, court rules and DCF operating procedures, with the appellate opinions that apply them

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J.C. v. Department of Children & Family Services26 So. 3d 665 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) · 3D09-2337

Court
3rd DCA
Decided
2010-01-27
Case
TPR
Appellant
Both parents

Reversed & remanded Termination reversed because DCF showed no statutory ground, in particular no proof that the parents' continued involvement threatened the children irrespective of services.

Issue
TPR ground: continuing involvement threatens the child
Facts
Parent's substance abuse

Summary, issues, facts, outcome, and appellant were extracted automatically from the opinion. Check the opinion itself before relying on them.

On CourtListener
SCHWARTZ, Senior Judge.

J.C., the mother of three-year-old G.C. and eighteen-month-old J.C., and H.C., the father of G.C., 1 appeal from final judgments terminating their parental rights to those children. Although there are several other procedural and substantive issues which give us pause as to the legal sufficiency of the proceedings below, we reverse the judgments and remand for further proceedings on the fundamental ground that there was no showing of any statutory basis justifying that drastic remedy as to either child or either parent. With the immaterial distinction that the parents’ alleged inadequacies arose from drug use, rather than, as in this case, mental illness, the facts of the recent case of In re S.F., 22 So.3d 650 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009), are almost identical. Most importantly, as in S.F., there was no showing, as required by the only even arguably applicable provision, section 39.806(1)(c), Florida Statutes (2008), that “ ‘continued interaction with the parent threatens the life, safety, or health of the child, and ... that this threat cannot be remedied by the provision of services.’ ” In re S.F., 22 So.3d at 653 (quoting T.H. v. Dep’t of Children & Family Servs., 979 So.2d 1075, 1082 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008)). See also C.C. v. Dep’t of *666 Children & Family Servs., 812 So.2d 520 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002).

Reversed and remanded.

1

. H.C. is not the biological father of J.C. (that person’s identity is unknown), and was not married to the mother.

Opinion text: CourtListener, Free Law Project. Not an official reporter; check the court's version before citing.