R.D.S. v. Department of Children and Families
In consolidated dependency/TPR appeals, the Third DCA affirmed the adjudication of dependency and the denial of DCF's petition to terminate parental rights of parents whose diabetic child suffered repeated hypoglycemic episodes, finding competent substantial evidence supported the trial court's conclusion that the parents' mismanagement of insulin was not intentional 'egregious conduct.' The court held the trial judge erred in allowing a non-party hospital's attorney to remain in the closed TPR proceeding under section 39.809(4), but found the error harmless. On certiorari, it quashed the portion of the court-ordered psychological evaluation requiring assessment for Munchausen syndrome by proxy because no evidence or allegation of that condition appeared at trial.
Key facts
- Parents of a diabetic child appealed the trial court's adjudication of dependency and denial of DCF's petition to terminate parental rights after the child suffered repeated hypoglycemic episodes allegedly caused by parents' mismanagement of insulin.
- The Third DCA affirmed the dependency adjudication and TPR denial, finding competent substantial evidence showed the parents' insulin mismanagement was not intentional 'egregious conduct' and that conflicting medical recommendations supported an exclusion from medical neglect.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
Practitioners handling dependency and TPR matters get a reusable rule that closed-proceeding statutes bar non-party counsel from the courtroom over a parent's objection, and a clear certiorari roadmap for quashing… — full analysis with a trial
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