Florida Statutes 984.04 – Families in need of services and children in need of services; procedures and jurisdiction
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Terms Used In Florida Statutes 984.04
- Abandoned: means a situation in which the parent or legal custodian of a child or, in the absence of a parent or legal custodian, the person responsible for the child's welfare, while being able, makes no provision for the child's support and makes no effort to communicate with the child, which situation is sufficient to evince a willful rejection of parental obligations. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Abuse: means any willful act that results in any physical, mental, or sexual injury that causes or is likely to cause the child's physical, mental, or emotional health to be significantly impaired. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Child in need of services: means a child for whom there is no pending investigation into an allegation or suspicion of abuse, neglect, or abandonment; no pending referral alleging the child is delinquent; or no current supervision by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Children and Families for an adjudication of dependency or delinquency. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Circuit: means any of the 20 judicial circuits as set forth in…. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Department: means the Department of Juvenile Justice. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Family: means a collective body of persons, consisting of a child and a parent, guardian, adult custodian, or adult relative, in which:(a) The persons reside in the same house or living unit; or(b) The parent, guardian, adult custodian, or adult relative has a legal responsibility by blood, marriage, or court order to support or care for the child. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Family in need of services: means a family that has a child who is running away; who is persistently disobeying reasonable and lawful demands of the parent or legal custodian and is beyond the control of the parent or legal custodian; or who is habitually truant from school or engaging in other serious behaviors that place the child at risk of future abuse, neglect, or abandonment or at risk of entering the juvenile justice system. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Parent: means a woman who gives birth to a child and a man whose consent to the adoption of the child would be required under…. See Florida Statutes 984.03
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Shelter: means a place for the temporary care of a child who is alleged to be or who has been found to be dependent, a child from a family in need of services, or a child in need of services, pending court disposition before or after adjudication or after execution of a court order. See Florida Statutes 984.03
(1) It is the intent of the Legislature to address the problems of families in need of services by providing them with an array of services designed to preserve the unity and integrity of the family and to emphasize parental responsibility for the behavior of their children. Services to families in need of services and children in need of services shall be provided on a continuum of increasing intensity and participation by the parent and child. Judicial intervention to resolve the problems and conflicts that exist within a family shall be limited to situations in which a resolution to the problem or conflict has not been achieved through service, treatment, and family intervention after all available less restrictive resources have been exhausted. In creating this chapter, the Legislature recognizes the need to distinguish the problems of truants, runaways, and children beyond the control of their parents, and the services provided to these children, from the problems and services designed to meet the needs of abandoned, abused, neglected, and delinquent children. In achieving this recognition, it shall be the policy of the state to develop short-term, temporary services and programs utilizing the least restrictive method for families in need of services and children in need of services.(2) The Department of Juvenile Justice shall be responsible for all nonjudicial proceedings involving a family in need of services.(3) All nonjudicial procedures in family-in-need-of-services cases shall be according to rules established by the Department of Juvenile Justice under chapter 120.(4) The circuit court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of judicial proceedings involving continued placement of a child from a family in need of services in shelter.(5) The circuit court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of proceedings in which a child is alleged to be a child in need of services. When the jurisdiction of any child who has been found to be a child in need of services or the parent, custodian, or legal guardian of such a child is obtained, the court shall retain jurisdiction, unless relinquished by its order or unless the department withdraws its petition because the child no longer meets the definition of a child in need of services as defined in s. 984.03, until the child reaches 18 years of age. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent the exercise of jurisdiction by any other court having jurisdiction of the child if the child commits a violation of law, is the subject of the dependency provisions under this chapter, or is the subject of a pending investigation into an allegation or suspicion of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.(6) All procedures, including petitions, pleadings, subpoenas, summonses, and hearings, in family-in-need-of-services cases and child-in-need-of-services cases shall be according to the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure unless otherwise provided by law.(7) The department may contract with a provider to provide services and programs for families in need of services and children in need of services.