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.G. v. Department of Children & Families3D19-2206

Court
3rd DCA
Decided
2020-03-04
Case
Dependency
Appellant
Father
County
Miami-Dade

Dismissed Certiorari dismissed because the deported father, who did not seek custody, showed no irreparable harm from moving the child from the aunt to foster care.

Issues
Placement & ICPC, Certiorari: irreparable harm, Certiorari: cannot be remedied on appeal
Facts
Relative or grandparent caregiver, Immigration

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

Court's PDF On CourtListener
       Third District Court of Appeal
                               State of Florida
                           Opinion filed March 4, 2020.
         Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
                               ________________
                               No. 3D19-2206
                         Lower Tribunal No. 18-15316
                            ________________

                               J.G., the father,
                                    Petitioner,
                                        vs.
         Florida Department of Children and Families, et al.,
                                  Respondents.

     On Petition for Writ of Certiorari from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Laura Anne Stuzin, Judge.
       Law Office of Brandon A. Rotbart, P.A., and Brandon A. Rotbart, for petitioner.
      Karla Perkins, for respondent Department of Children & Families; Thomasina F. Moore and Laura J. Lee (Tallahassee), for respondent Guardian ad Litem Program.

Before SALTER, HENDON, and LOBREE, JJ.
      HENDON, J.
      The Father, J.G., seeks certiorari review of the trial court’s non-final order modifying R.G.’s placement from the custody of his paternal aunt into foster care.1 See § 39.522, Fla. Stat. (2019). The trial court found that it was in R.G.’s best interests to remove him from the custody of the paternal aunt as a result of the aunt’s failure to disclose relevant information that ultimately resulted in a negative home study. This permitted the court’s removal of R.G. from that environment. See § 39.521(2)(o), Fla. Stat. (2019). The Father had been previously deported, did not have custody, and does not now seek custody.
      Certiorari is an extraordinary remedy that “never was intended to redress mere legal error.” Broward Cty. v. G.B.V., Int’l, Ltd., 
787 So. 2d 838, 842
 (Fla. 2001). To grant certiorari relief, a party must demonstrate: (1) a material injury in the proceedings that cannot be corrected on appeal (sometimes referred to as irreparable harm); and (2) a “depart[ure] from the essential requirements of the law.” Nader v. Fla. Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, 
87 So. 3d 712, 721
 (Fla. 2012) (quotations omitted). The establishment of irreparable harm is a condition precedent to invoking certiorari jurisdiction. Stockinger v. Zeilberger, 
152 So. 3d 71, 73
 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014).

  The foster care placement is with the foster parents who cared for the child for the year after he was adjudicated dependent, and who have indicated their willingness to adopt the child.
      As the Father has not shown that the modification of placement order causes him any material injury that cannot be corrected on appeal, i.e., irreparable harm, we lack jurisdiction to review the petition.
      Petition dismissed. 

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