Dependency Law Finder

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

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D.G. v. Department of Children & Families5D18-1049-2

Court
5th DCA
Decided
2018-08-13
Case
TPR
Appellant
Father
County
Volusia

Affirmed Termination affirmed on the incarceration ground because continuing the relationship with the incarcerated father would harm the child; other grounds need not be reached.

Issue
TPR ground: incarceration
Facts
Parent's incarceration

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
         IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
                              FIFTH DISTRICT
                                           NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO
                                           FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND
                                           DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED D.G., FATHER OF D.L., A CHILD,
             Appellant, v.                                             Case No. 5D18-1049 DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES,
             Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed August 15, 2018 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Volusia County, Stasia Warren, Judge. Ryan Thomas Truskoski, of Ryan Thomas Truskoski, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant. Ward L. Metzger, Appellate Counsel, Children’s Legal Services, Department of Children and Families, Jacksonville, for Appellee. Thomasina Moore, Statewide Director of Appeals, and Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb, Appellate Counsel, Guardian ad Litem Program, Tallahassee, for Guardian ad Litem. PER CURIAM.
       D.G. appeals the order terminating his parental rights to D.L. We affirm. The record supports the trial court’s findings that the Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) proved, by clear and convincing evidence, a ground for termination pursuant to section 39.806(1)(d)(3), Florida Statutes (2017).1 Because DCF was required to prove only one statutory ground for termination, we do not need to address whether the trial court correctly relied on other grounds for termination.2 See § 39.802(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (2017); S.D. v. Dep’t of Child. & Fam. Servs., 
80 So. 3d 438
 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012).
       AFFIRMED.

COHEN, C.J., and TORPY and EVANDER, JJ., concur.

Footnotes

1
Section 39.806(1)(d)(3) provides that grounds for termination of parental rights may be established where the court determines by clear and convincing evidence “that continuing the parental relationship with the incarcerated parent would be harmful to the child and, for this reason, that termination of parental rights of an incarcerated parent is in the best interest of the child.”
2
We recognize that DCF conceded that some of the statutory grounds relied upon by the trial court for termination were not supported by the evidence.

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