K.B. v. Dep't of Children & Families

• Docket Number: 4D23-477
• Decision Date: 07 June 2023
• Parties: K.B., the mother, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES and GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

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K.B., the mother, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES and GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM, Appellees.

No. 4D23-477

Florida Court of Appeals, Fourth District

June 7, 2023

Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Saint Lucie County; Michael J. Linn, Judge; L.T. Case No. 562022DP000206.

Antony P. Ryan, Regional Counsel, and Richard G. Bartmon, Assistant Regional Counsel, Office of Criminal Conflict and Civil Regional Council, Fourth District, West Palm Beach, for appellant.

Andrew Feigenbaum of Children's Legal Services, West Palm Beach, for appellee Department of Children and Families.

Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb and Sarah Todd Weitz of Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, Tallahassee, for appellee Guardian ad Litem.

PER CURIAM.

Affirmed. See E.A. v. Dep't Child. &Fams., 332 So.3d 493 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021); V.S. v. Dep't Child. &Fams., 322 So.3d 1153 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021).

MAY and GERBER, JJ., concur.

WARNER, J, concurs specially with opinion WARNER, J, concurring specially.

I concur in the affirmance of the final judgment terminating appellant's rights to her child, as I am bound by V.S. and E.A. which are controlling in this district. I continue to maintain, however, as I did in my dissent in V.S., that the Legislature cannot abrogate the principles set forth in

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Padgett v. Department of Health &Rehabilitative Services, 577 So.2d 565 (Fla. 1991), required to assure that the fundamental liberty interest of a parent to his or her child is protected. Only the supreme court can determine whether the constitutional interests of the parents are sufficiently protected under the statutes. In this case, the trial court did not conduct a least restrictive means inquiry, only making a conclusory finding that termination was the least restrictive means, based on E.A. v. Department of Children and Families, 332 So.3d 493 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021), and section 39.806(2), Florida Statutes (2022).