RULE 8.415. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF DEPENDENCY CASES

(a) Required Review. All dependent children must have
their status reviewed as provided by law. Any party may petition the
court for a judicial review as provided by law.

(b) Scheduling Hearings.
(1) Initial Review Hearing. The court must determine
when the first review hearing must be held and the clerk of the
court must immediately schedule the review hearing. In no case
may the hearing be scheduled for later than 6 months from the date
of removal from the home or 90 days from the disposition or case
plan approval hearing, whichever comes first. In every case, the
court must conduct a judicial review at least every 6 months.

(2) Subsequent Review Hearings. At each judicial review
hearing, the court must schedule the next judicial review hearing
which must be conducted within 6 months. The clerk of the court,
at the judicial review hearing, must provide the parties, the social
service agency charged with the supervision of care, custody, or
guardianship of the child, the foster parent or caregiver in whose
home the child resides, any preadoptive parent, and such other
persons as the court may direct with written notice of the date,
time, and location of the next judicial review hearing.

(3) Review Hearings for Children 16 Years of Age. The
court must provide the child and the guardian ad litem the
opportunity to address the court and must review the child’s
independent living transition services. The foster parent, legal
custodian, or guardian ad litem may also provide any information
relevant to the child’s best interest to the court. At the first hearing
after the child’s 16th birthday, the court must inquire about the life
skills the child has acquired and whether they are age-appropriate,
and the department must provide a report that includes specific
information as to the life skills the child has acquired since the
child’s 13th birthday, or since the child came into foster care,
whichever came later.

(4) Review Hearings for Children 17 Years of Age. The
court must hold a judicial review hearing within 90 days after a
child’s 17th birthday. The court must also issue an order, separate
from the order on judicial review, that the specific disabilities of
nonage of the child have been removed under sections 743.044,
743.045, 743.046, and 743.047, Florida Statutes, as well as any
other disabilities of nonage that the court finds to be in the child’s
best interest to remove. The court must continue to hold timely
judicial review hearings. The department must update the child’s
transition plan before each judicial review hearing as required by
law. If necessary, the court may review the status of the child more
frequently during the year before the child’s 18th birthday. At the
last review hearing before the child reaches 18 years of age, the
court must also address whether the child plans to remain in foster
care, and, if so, ensure that the child’s transition plan complies
with the law. It must also determine whether the child has entered
into a formal agreement with a supportive adult. The court must
approve the child’s transition plan before the child’s 18th birthday.

(5) Review Hearings for Young Adults in Foster Care.
The court must review the status of a young adult at least every six
months and must hold a permanency review hearing at least
annually while the young adult remains in foster care. The young
adult or any other party to the dependency case may request an
additional hearing or judicial review.

(c) Report. In all cases, the department or its agent must
prepare a report to the court. The report must contain facts
showing the court to have jurisdiction of the cause as a dependency
case. It must contain information as to the identity and residence of
the parent, if known, and the caregiver, the dates of the original
dependency adjudication and any subsequent judicial review
proceedings, the results of any safe-harbor placement assessment
including the status of the child’s placement, and a request for one
or more of the following forms of relief:

(1) that the child’s placement be changed;

(2) that the case plan be continued to permit the
parents or social service agency to complete the tasks assigned to
them in the agreement;

(3) that proceedings be instituted to terminate parental
rights and legally free the child for adoption; or

(4) that the child has a special need as defined in
section 39.01305, Florida Statutes, who is not represented by an
attorney, and who requires appointment of an attorney.
(d) Service. A copy of the report containing
recommendations and, if not previously provided by the court, a
notice of review hearing must be served on all persons who are
required by law to be served at least 72 hours before the judicial
review hearing.

(e) Information Available to Court. At the judicial review
hearing the court may receive any relevant and material evidence
pertinent to the cause. This must include written reports required
by law and may include, but must not be limited to, any psychiatric
or psychological evaluations of the child or parent, caregiver that
may be obtained and that are material and relevant. This evidence
may be received by the court and relied on to the extent of its
probative value, even though it may not be competent in an
adjudicatory hearing.

(f) Court Action.

(1) The court must hold a hearing to review the
compliance of the parties with the case plan and to determine what
assigned tasks were and were not accomplished and the reasons for
any noncompliance. The court must also determine the frequency,
kind, and duration of contracts among siblings who have been
separated during placement, as well as any efforts undertaken to
reunite separated siblings, if doing so is in the best interest of each
child.

(2) If the court determines that the circumstances that
caused the out-of-home placement, and any issues subsequently
identified, have been remedied to the extent that returning 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, the court must
return the child to the custody of the parents.

(3) If the court finds that the social service agency has
not complied with its obligations, the court may find the social
service agency to be in contempt, must order the social service
agency to submit its plan for compliance with the case plan, and
must require the social service agency to show why the child could
not be safely returned to the home of the parents. If the court finds
that the child could not be safely returned to the parents, it must
extend the case plan for a period of not more than 6 months to
allow the social service agency to comply with its obligations under
the case plan.

(4) At any judicial review held under section 39.701(3),
Florida Statutes, if, in the opinion of the court, the department has
not met its obligations to the child as stated in the written case plan
or in the provision of independent living services, the court may
issue an order directing the department to show cause as to why it
has not done so. If the department cannot justify its
noncompliance, the court may give the department 30 days within
which to comply and, on failure to comply, the court may hold the
department in contempt.

(5) The court must appoint an attorney to represent a
child with special needs as required by rule 8.231, and who is not
already represented by an attorney.

(6) If, at any judicial review, the court determines that
the child must remain in out-of-home care in a placement other
than with a parent, the court must order that the department has
placement and care responsibility for the child.

(7) The court must enter a written order on the
conclusion of the review hearing including a statement of the facts,
those findings it was directed to determine by law, a determination
of the future course of the proceedings, and the date, time, and
place of the next hearing.

(8) When a young adult is in extended foster care, each
judicial review order must provide that the department has
placement and care responsibility for the young adult. When a
young adult is in extended foster care, the court must enter an
order at least every 12 months that includes a finding of whether
the department has made reasonable efforts to finalize the
permanency plan currently in effect.
(g) Jurisdiction.

(1) When a child is returned to the parents, the court
must not terminate its jurisdiction over the child until 6 months
after the return. Based on a report of the department and any other
relevant factors, the court must then determine whether
jurisdiction should be continued or terminated. If its jurisdiction is
to be terminated, it must enter an order to that effect. The court
must retain jurisdiction over a child if the child is placed in the
home with a parent or caregiver with an in-home safety plan and
such safety plan remains necessary for the child to reside safely in
the home.

(2) When a child has not been returned to the parent,
but has been permanently committed to the department for
subsequent adoption, the court must continue to hold judicial
review hearings on the status of the child at least every 6 months
until the adoption is finalized. These hearings must be held in
accordance with these rules.

(3) If a young adult petitions the court at any time
before his or her 19th birthday requesting the court’s continued
jurisdiction, the court may retain or reinstate jurisdiction for a
period of time not to continue beyond the date of the young adult’s
19th birthday for the purpose of determining whether appropriate
services that were required to be provided to the young adult before
reaching 18 years of age have been provided.

(4) If a young adult has chosen to remain in extended
foster care after he or she has reached 18 years of age, the
department may not close a case and the court may not terminate
jurisdiction until the court finds, following a hearing, that the
appropriate statutory criteria have been met.

(5) If the young adult elects to voluntarily leave
extended foster care for the sole purpose of ending a removal
episode and immediately thereafter executes a voluntary placement
agreement with the department to reenroll in extended foster care,
the court must enter an order finding that the prior removal episode
has ended. Under these circumstances, the court maintains
jurisdiction and a petition to reinstate jurisdiction as provided by
law is not required. When a young adult enters extended foster care
by executing a voluntary placement agreement, the court must
enter an order within 180 days after execution of the agreement
that determines whether the placement is in the best interest of the
young adult.

(6) If a petition for special immigrant juvenile status
and an application for adjustment of status have been filed on
behalf of a foster child and the petition and application have not
been granted by the time the child reaches 18 years of age, the
court may retain jurisdiction solely for the purpose of allowing the
continued consideration of the petition and application by federal
authorities. Review hearings must be set solely for the purpose of
determining the status of the petition and application. The court’s
jurisdiction must terminate on the final decision of the federal
authorities, or on the immigrant child’s 22nd birthday, whichever
occurs first.

(h) Administrative Review. The department, under a formal
agreement with the court in particular cases, may conduct
administrative reviews instead of judicial reviews for children in
out-of-home placement. Notice must be provided to all parties. An
administrative review may not be substituted for the first judicial
review or any subsequent 6-month review. Any party may petition
the court for a judicial review as provided by law.

(i) Concurrent Planning.

(1) At the initial judicial review hearing, the court must
make findings regarding the likelihood of the child’s reunification
with the parent or legal custodian within 12 months after the
removal of the child from the home. In making such findings, the
court must consider the level of the parent or legal custodian’s
compliance with the case plan and demonstrated change in
protective capacities compared to that necessary to achieve timely
reunification within 12 months after the removal of the child from
the home. The court must also consider the frequency, duration,
manner, and level of engagement of the parent or legal custodian’s
visitation with the child in compliance with the case plan.

(2) If the court makes a written finding that it is not
likely that the child will be reunified with the parent or legal
custodian within 12 months after the child was removed from the
home, the department must file a motion to amend the case plan
and declare that it will use concurrent planning for the case plan.

(3) The department must file the motion to amend the
case plan no later than 10 business days after receiving the written
finding of the court and attach the proposed amended case plan to
the motion.

(4) If concurrent planning is already being used, the
case plan must document the efforts the department is making to
complete the concurrent goal.

Committee Notes
1991 Adoption. The rule allows for certain forms of relief
pertinent to foster care review. It allows the court to order
commencement of a termination of parental rights proceeding if the
parents are not in compliance. The court is also permitted to extend
or modify the plan.

2022 Amendment. Section (b) of this rule was amended in
response to ch. 2021-169, Laws of Florida.