CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...The GAL testified that terminating the father's rights would be detrimental to the children. The GAL recommended allowing the children to stay in long-term relative placement with the paternal grandparents and allowing the father liberal visitation rights. See § 39.5085(1)(c), Fla....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal
...below. In 2002, because Mrs. Cleveland had suffered severe financial reversals caused by the death of her husband and extensive health-related expenses, she applied for conversion of the TCA benefits she had been receiving to RC benefits under *1229 section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), following the department's advice to her the preceding year that she might be eligible for greater benefits under the RC program than those available through TCA....
...In reaching its decision, DCF relied on a rule which, at the time Mrs. Cleveland filed her petition in 2002, had become obsolete by reason of subsequent statutory amendments governing the RC program. Initially, we note that chapter 65C-24 was adopted before the enactment of the 2000 amendment to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, [4] which expanded the RC program to long-term relative caregivers, such as Mrs....
...Cleveland, given permanent custody of children adjudicated dependent pursuant to chapter 39. DCF has not modified its rules to implement the amended statute by providing for the eligibility of relatives with long-term permanent custody of children. As such, the unchanged rule clearly contradicts section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), which contains categories of relative caregivers eligible for the program different from those listed in Rule 65C-24.010. *1230 Section 39.5085(2)(a) provides the only eligibility criteria necessary for Mrs. Cleveland to meet. In order for a relative caregiver to be eligible for RC assistance, section 39.5085 requires that (1) the relative be within the fifth degree by blood or marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child for whom they are caring; (2) the relative be caring full-time for a child determined dependent as a result of abuse...
...aced by the dependency court in the care of such relatives. (d) Reserve the limited casework and supervisory resources of the courts and the department for those cases in which children do not have the option for safe, stable care within the family. § 39.5085(1), Fla....
...essed purpose for providing financial assistance to relative caregivers, recognizing that without such provision, they would be unable to serve in such capacity, thereby "exposing the child to the trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster care." § 39.5085(2)(a)(2), Fla....
...We cannot agree with either assertion. At oral argument, Mrs. Cleveland conceded that her eligibility for RC benefits as a relative caregiver with long-term custody arose not through the provisions of the department's rule, but rather from the 2000 amendments to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, which did not take effect until a year after the rule's adoption....
...Accordingly, we remand the case to the department to decide, either from the evidence before it, or, if necessary, from additional evidence, when, during the ordinary application process, appellant should have received RC benefits if she had been properly determined eligible. Because of the legislative proscription in section 39.5085(2)(e) against children simultaneously receiving both TCA and RC benefits, DCF shall be allowed an offset or credit against RC benefits paid to Mrs....
...08(9)(a)3. or 4., F.S., in (a) Court-ordered temporary legal custody of the relative, or (b) Court-ordered placement in the home of a relative under protective supervision of the department. [3] See Ch. 98-78, § 1, at 554-55, Laws of Fla., enacting section 39.5085, Florida Statutes. [4] For example, section 39.5085(2)(a)(2) provides that placement with a relative may be either court-ordered temporary legal custody to the relative under protective supervision of the department pursuant to s....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2006 Fla. App. LEXIS 15176, 2006 WL 2613513
...The GAL testified that terminating the father’s rights would be detrimental to the children. The GAL recommended allowing the children to stay in long-term relative placement with the paternal grandparents and allowing the father liberal visitation rights. See § 39.5085(l)(c), Fla....
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 7643, 2002 WL 1071536
...The meeting was not formally noticed, nor was a court reporter present. The parents of the children, although parties to the dependency, were not informed of the meeting. The meeting resulted in the issuance of an order finding that H.W.W. was a “relative caregiver” within the meaning of section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2000) 1 and Florida Administrative Code Chapter 65C-24, and which declared him to be entitled to receive certain financial assistance in caring for the children....
...urt to either adjourn the meeting and convene a hearing in accordance with the rules, or to create a record establishing that those procedures have been waived. The appealed order is vacated. Order VACATED. THOMPSON, C.J., and SAWAYA, J„ concur. . Section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2000), provides in relevant part: (2)(a) The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish and operate the Relative Caregiver Program pursuant to eligibility guidelines established in this section as further implemented by rule of the department....
CopyPublished | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 3534
...below. In 2002, because Mrs. Cleveland had suffered severe financial reversals caused by the death of her husband and extensive health-related expenses, she applied for conversion of the TCA benefits she had been receiving to RC benefits under *1229 section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), following the department’s advice to her the preceding year that she might be eligible for greater benefits under the RC program than those available through TCA....
...In reaching its decision, DCF relied on a rule which, at the time Mrs. Cleveland filed her petition in 2002, had become obsolete by reason of subsequent statutory amendments governing the RC program. Initially, we note that chapter 65C-24 was adopted before the enactment of the 2000 amendment to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, 4 which expanded the RC program to long-term relative caregivers, such as Mrs....
...Cleveland, given permanent custody of children adjudicated dependent pursuant to chapter 39. DCF has not modified its rules to implement the amended statute by providing for the eligibility of relatives with long-term permanent custody of children. As such, the unchanged rule clearly contradicts section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), which contains categories of relative caregivers eligible for the program different from those listed in Rule 65C-24.010. *1230 Section 39.5085(2)(a) provides the only-eligibility criteria necessary for Mrs. Cleveland to meet. In order for a relative caregiver to be eligible for RC assistance, section 39.5085 requires that (1) the relative be within the fifth degree by blood or marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child for whom they are caring; (2) the relative be caring full-time for a child determined dependent as a result of abuse...
...aced by the dependency court in the care of such relatives. (d) Reserve the limited casework and supervisory resources of the courts and the department for those cases in which children do not have the option for safe, stable care within the family. § 39.5085(1), Fla....
...d purpose for providing financial assistance to relative caregivers, recognizing that without such provision, they would be unable to serve in such capacity, thereby “exposing the child to the trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster care.” § 39.5085(2)(a)(2), Fla....
...We cannot agree with either assertion. At oral argument, Mrs. Cleveland conceded that her eligibility for RC benefits as a relative caregiver with long-term custody arose not through the provisions of the department’s rule, but rather from the 2000 amendments to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, which did not take effect until a year after the rule’s adoption....
...Accordingly, we remand the case to the department to decide, either from the evidence before it, or, if necessary, from additional evidence, when, during the ordinary application process, appellant should have received RC benefits if she had been properly determined eligible. Because of the legislative proscription in section 39.5085(2)(e) against children simultaneously receiving both TCA and RC benefits, DCF shall be allowed an offset or credit against RC benefits paid to Mrs....
....508(9)(a)3. or 4., F.S., in (a) Court-ordered temporary legal custody of the relative, or (b) Court-ordered placement in the home of a relative under protective supervision of the department. . See Ch. 98-78, § 1, at 554-55, Laws of Fla., enacting section 39.5085, Florida Statutes. .For example, section 39.5085(2)(a)(2) provides that placement with a relative may be either court-ordered temporary legal custody to the relative under protective supervision of the department pursuant to s....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 2121, 2015 WL 674941
...sdiction of the Department and the trial court. The Department submits that the Final Order requires payments in violation of the requirements of Rule 65C-28.008(l)(d), Florida Administrative Code. That rule was created pursuant to the directives of Section 39.5085(2)(a), Florida Statutes (2014), which states: “The Department of Children and Families shall establish and operate the Relative Caregiver Program pursuant to eligibility guidelines established in this section as further implemented by rule of the department.” In the Final Order, the trial court determined that the provisions of rule 65C-28.008(l)(d) are beyond the scope of the implementation language of Section 39.5085(2)(a), Florida Statutes....
