Dependency Law Finder

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

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A.C.H. v. Department of Children & Families3D19-2349

Court
3rd DCA
Decided
2020-04-01
Case
TPR
Appellant
Father
County
Miami-Dade

Affirmed Termination affirmed: the court would not reweigh the best-interest findings, and no case plan is required when termination rests on abandonment.

Issues
TPR ground: abandonment, Manifest best interests, Expedited termination without a case plan
Facts
Abandonment / no contact or support

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 April 1, 2020.
         Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
                               ________________
                               No. 3D19-2349
                         Lower Tribunal No. 18-15451
                            ________________
                             A.C.H., the Father,
                                    Appellant,
                                        vs.
              Department of Children and Families, et al.,
                                   Appellees.

      An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne Del Rio, Judge.
      Kevin G. Thomas, for appellant.
      Karla Perkins, for appellee Department of Children and Families; Boldt Law Firm, and Ryan C. Tyler (Boca Raton); Thomasina Moore (Tallahassee), for appellee Guardian ad Litem Program.

Before LOGUE, SCALES and GORDO, JJ.
      PER CURIAM.
      Affirmed. See J.P. v. Fla. Dep’t of Children & Families, 
183 So. 3d 1198, 1204
 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (where the trial court made full findings on all eleven statutory factors and found that, overall, termination of parental rights was in the child’s manifest best interest, the appellate court should not re-weigh the evidence); C.A.H. v. Dep’t of Children & Families, 
830 So. 2d 939, 941
 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (“Florida’s governing statutes clearly state that when DCF seeks to terminate parental rights due to abandonment, it need not offer the parent a case plan with a goal of reunification. In cases of abandonment, the goal of the case plan can be termination of parental rights.” (internal citations omitted)). See also §§ 39.802(5), 39.806(3), Fla. Stat. (2019). 

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