RULE 8.345. POST-DISPOSITION RELIEF

(a) Emergency Motion for Modification of Placement.

(1) A child’s case manager, an authorized agent of the
department, or a law enforcement officer may, at any time, remove a
child from a court-ordered placement and take the child into
custody as provided by law.

(2) If, at the time of the removal, the child was not
placed in licensed care in the department’s custody, the department
must file a motion to modify placement within 1 business day after
the child is taken into custody.

(3) The court must set a hearing within 24 hours after
the motion is filed unless all of the parties and the caregiver agree
to the change of placement.

(4) At the hearing, the court must determine if the
department has established probable cause to support the
immediate removal of the child from his or her current placement.
The court may base its determination on a sworn petition or
affidavit or on testimony and may hear all relevant and material
evidence, including oral or written reports, to the extent of their
probative value, even if such evidence would not be competent
evidence at an adjudicatory hearing.

(5) If the caregiver admits that a change of placement is
needed or the department establishes probable cause to support
removal of the child, the court must enter an order changing the
placement of the child. The new placement for the child must meet
the home study criteria in this chapter if the child is not placed in
foster care. The court must then conduct a hearing pursuant to
subdivision (b) unless such hearing is waived by all parties and the
caregiver.

(6) If the court finds that the department did not
establish probable cause to support the removal of the child from
his or her placement, the court must enter an order that the child
be returned to such placement. An order by the court to return the
child to his or her placement does not preclude a party from filing a
subsequent motion pursuant to this rule.

(b) Motion for Modification of Placement. At any time
before a child is residing in the permanent placement approved at
the permanency hearing, a child who has been placed in his or her
own home, in the home of a relative, or in some other place, under
the supervision or legal custody of the department, may be brought
before the court by the department or any interested person on a
motion for modification of placement. The court may enter an order
making the change in placement without a hearing unless a party
or the current caregiver objects to the change. If any party or the
current caregiver objects to the change of placement, the court
must conduct a hearing and thereafter enter an order changing the
placement, modifying the conditions of placement, continuing
placement as previously ordered, or placing the child with the
department or a licensed child-caring agency.

(1) In cases in which the issue before the court is
whether a child should be reunited with a parent, and the child is
currently placed with someone other than a parent, the court must
review the conditions for return and determine whether the
circumstances that caused the out-of-home placement and issues
subsequently identified have been remedied to the extent that the
return of the child to the home with an in-home safety plan
prepared or approved by the department will not be detrimental to
the child’s safety, well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional
health.

(2) In cases in which the issue before the court is
whether a child who is placed in the custody of a parent should be
reunited with the other parent upon a finding that the
circumstances that caused the out-of-home placement and issues
subsequently identified have been remedied to the extent that the
return of the child to the home of the other parent with an in-home
safety plan prepared or approved by the department will not be
detrimental to the child, the court must determine that the safety,
well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional health of the child
would not be endangered by reunification and that reunification
would be in the best interest of the child.

(c) Standard for Changing Custody.

(1) Generally. The standard for changing custody of the
child must be the best interests of the child as provided by law.
When determining whether a change of legal custody or placement
is in the best interests of the child, the court must consider the best
interests factors provided by law, the report filed by the
multidisciplinary team, if applicable, and the priority of placements
as provided by law, or as otherwise provided by law.

(2) Rebuttable presumption.

(A) In a hearing on a change of physical custody
when the child has been in the same safe and stable placement for
9 consecutive months or more, a rebuttable presumption that it is
in the child’s best interest to remain permanently in his or her
current placement applies as required by law.

(B) A caregiver who objects to the department’s
official position on the change in physical custody must notify the
court and the department of his or her objection and the intent to
request an evidentiary hearing in writing within 5 days after
receiving notice of the department’s official position.

(C) Within 7 days after receiving written notice
from the caregiver, the court must conduct an initial case status
hearing, at which time the court must:

(i) grant limited purpose party status to the
current caregiver who is seeking permanent custody and has
maintained physical custody of that child for at least 9 continuous
months for the limited purpose of filing a motion for a hearing on
the objection and presenting evidence under this rule;

(ii) advise the caregiver of his or her right to
retain counsel for purposes of the evidentiary hearing; and

(iii) appoint a court-selected neutral and
independent licensed professional with expertise in the science and
research of child-parent bonding.

(D) The court must conduct the evidentiary
hearing and provide a written order of its findings regarding the
placement that is in the best interest of the child no later than 90
days after the date the caregiver provided written notice to the
court. The court must provide its written order to the department,
the caregiver, and the prospective caregiver.

(3) Reunification.

(A) In cases in which the issue before the court is
whether a child should be reunited with a parent, and the child is
currently placed with someone other than a parent, the court must
review the conditions for return and determine whether the
circumstances that caused the out-of-home placement and issues
subsequently identified have been remedied to the extent that the
return of the child to the home with an in-home safety plan
prepared or approved by the department will not be detrimental to
the child’s safety, well-being, and physical, mental, and emotional
health.
(B) In cases in which the issue before the court is
whether a child who is placed in the custody of a parent should be
reunited with the other parent on a finding that the circumstances
that caused the out-of-home placement and issues subsequently
identified have been remedied to the extent that the return of the
child to the home of the other parent with an in-home safety plan
prepared or approved by the department will not be detrimental to
the child, the court must determine that the safety, well-being, and
physical, mental, and emotional health of the child would not be
endangered by reunification and that reunification would be in the
best interest of the child.

(4) Removal from Home. In cases in which the issue
before the court is whether to place a child in out-of-home care
after the child was placed in the child’s own home with an in-home
safety plan or the child was reunified with a parent or caregiver
with an in-home safety plan, the court must consider, at a
minimum, the following factors in making its determination
whether to place the child in out-of-home care:

(A) the circumstances that caused the child’s
dependency and other subsequently identified issues;

(B) the length of time the child has been
placed in the home with an in-home safety plan;

(C) the parent’s or caregiver’s current level of
protective capacities; and

(D) the level of increase, if any, in the
parent’s or caregiver’s protective capacities since the child’s
placement in the home based on the length of time the child
has been placed in the home.

(d) Change of Permanency Goal. The court must
additionally evaluate the child's permanency goal and change the
permanency goal as needed if doing so would be in the best
interests of the child. If the court changes the permanency goal, the
case plan must be amended under law.
(e) Motion for Termination of Supervision or
Jurisdiction. Any party requesting termination of agency
supervision or the jurisdiction of the court or both must do so by
written motion or in a written report to the court. The court must
hear all parties present and enter an order terminating supervision
or terminating jurisdiction and supervision or continuing them as
previously ordered. The court must not terminate jurisdiction
unless the child is returned to the parent and has been in the
placement for at least 6 months, the child is adopted, or the child
attains the age of 18, unless the court has extended jurisdiction.

Committee Note

2022 Amendment. Multiple sections of this rule were
amended in response to ch. 2021-169, Laws of Florida.