(1) Subject to specific legislative appropriation, the court may order that a child adjudicated as a child in need of services be placed for up to 90 days in a staff-secure shelter if:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

   (a) The child’s parent, guardian, or legal custodian refuses to provide food, clothing, shelter, and necessary parental support for the child and the refusal is a direct result of an established pattern of significant disruptive behavior of the child in the home of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian;

   (b) The child refuses to remain under the reasonable care and custody of his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian, as evidenced by repeatedly running away and failing to comply with a court order; or

   (c) The child has failed to successfully complete an alternative treatment program or to comply with a court-ordered sanction and the child has been placed in a residential program on at least one prior occasion pursuant to a court order under this chapter.

   (2) This section applies after other alternative, less-restrictive remedies have been exhausted. The court may order that a child be placed in a staff-secure shelter. The department, or an authorized representative of the department, must verify to the court that a bed is available for the child. If the department or an authorized representative of the department verifies that a bed is not available, the department will place the child’s name on a waiting list. The child who has been on the waiting list the longest will get the next available bed.

   (3) The court shall order the parent, guardian, or legal custodian to cooperate with efforts to reunite the child with the family, participate in counseling, and pay all costs associated with the care and counseling provided to the child and family, in accordance with the family’s ability to pay as determined by the court. Commitment of a child under this section is designed to provide residential care on a temporary basis. Such commitment does not abrogate the legal responsibilities of the parent, guardian, or legal custodian with respect to the child, except to the extent that those responsibilities are temporarily altered by court order.

   (4) While a child is in a staff-secure shelter, the child shall receive education commensurate with his or her grade level and educational ability.

   (5) If a child has not been reunited with his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian at the expiration of the 90-day commitment period, the court may order that the child remain in the staff-secure shelter for an additional 30 days if the court finds that reunification could be achieved within that period.

   (6) The department is deemed to have exhausted the reasonable remedies offered under this chapter if, at the end of the commitment period, the parent, guardian, or legal custodian continues to refuse to allow the child to remain at home or creates unreasonable conditions for the child’s return. If, at the end of the commitment period, the child is not reunited with his or her parent, guardian, or custodian due solely to the continued refusal of the parent, guardian, or custodian to provide food, clothing, shelter, and parental support, the child is considered to be threatened with harm as a result of such acts or omissions, and the court shall direct that the child be handled in every respect as a dependent child. Jurisdiction shall be transferred to the Department of Children and Family Services, and the child’s care shall be governed under the relevant provisions of chapter 39.

   (7) The court shall review the child’s commitment once every 45 days as provided in s. 984.20. The court shall determine whether the parent, guardian, or custodian has reasonably participated in and financially contributed to the child’s counseling and treatment program. The court shall also determine whether the department’s efforts to reunite the family have been reasonable. If the court finds an inadequate level of support or participation by the parent, guardian, or custodian prior to the end of the commitment period, the court shall direct that the child be handled in every respect as a dependent child. Jurisdiction shall be transferred to the Department of Children and Family Services, and the child’s care shall be governed under the relevant provisions of chapter 39.

   (8) If the child requires residential mental health treatment or residential care for a developmental disability, the court shall refer the child to the Department of Children and Family Services for the provision of necessary services.

s. 12, ch. 97-281; s. 74, ch. 98-280; s. 3, ch. 2000-134