WHAT IS A DEPENDENCY CASE?
Dependency cases occur when people who work for the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Child Protective Services (CPS) receive a tip that a child has been abused, abandoned, or neglected. Ultimately, dependency can result in the loss of custody and even the termination of parental rights when parents are accused of doing the unthinkable.
How a dependency case progresses depends upon the initial findings of a DCF investigation. After receiving a report of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, DCF investigators will investigate the report to determine the severity of the case and the witnesses thereto.
In some cases, if DCF investigators believe a child is in immediate danger of suffering further harm from their caretakers, the children will be removed from the home. This is known as placing a child in “shelter care.” Likewise, but not so common, DCF can choose to have a child remain in their family home. If DCF chooses to place a child in a shelter, dependency court will hold a shelter hearing within 24 hours. The outcome determines whether the child continues to remain in the shelter, or if the parents regain custody and control of the child. Normally, within a 20-day period, a court holds a shelter hearing or 7 days in the case of DCF filing a dependency case, the court will hold an Arraignment and shelter care review. The outcome of the hearing normally determines how the case will proceed.
Parents generally only have 3 options:
- Deny the presence of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect;
- Consent to the development of a case plan, but neither confirm nor deny the presence of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; or
- Admit to the child abuse, abandonment, or neglect as it appears in the charging document.
Most of the time under Florida Statute Chapter 39, parents choose to plead guilty and consent to the development of a case plan. This allows them to open a pathway towards maintaining custody of the child or children in question.
When a parent pleads guilty, the case moves through the system, often leading to the termination of parental rights and the placement of the child within the Florida Foster Care system; or, the rehoming of the child within the family.
Dependency is a very long and tedious process, whereby DCF officials supervise parents over a period of time to ensure that they adhere to the case plan and its details. Should parents fail to comply with the case plan, they may lose their parental rights, have their child rehomed, or placed into foster care.
