5D07-703 M.B.T. v. DCF

State: Florida

Court: Florida Fifth District Court

Docket No: 5D07-703

Case Date: 02/25/2008

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JANUARY TERM 2008

M.B.T., MOTHER OF S.T., S.W., AND S.T., CHILDREN, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee. ________________________________/ Opinion filed February 25, 2008 Appeal from the Circuit Court for Sumter County, Michelle Morley, Judge. Ryan Thomas Truskoski, of Ryan Thomas Truskoski, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant. Anthony C. Musto, Hallandale Beach, for Appellee. Case No. 5D07-703

PALMER, C.J., OPINION ON MOTION FOR CLARIFICATION Following the issuance of this court's decision, appellant, M.B.T., filed a motion for clarification. Having carefully considered the arguments raised in said motion, we grant the motion, withdraw the per curiam affirmed disposition dated January 24, 2008, and substitute the following opinion. M.B.T. appeals the final order entered by the trial court terminating her parental rights to her three children. We conclude from our review of the record that the

Department of Children and Families (DCF) sustained the burden of proof necessary for the termination of M.B.T.'s parental rights. The evidence presented during the termination hearing was sufficient to prove that, during the two-year time period that the mother's children were in shelter care, the mother failed to make good faith efforts to comply with the terms of her case plan, failed to regularly visit or contact her children, failed to contact her case worker, and was incarcerated on four separate occasions based on four separate offenses. As the Fourth District explained in C.M. v. Department of Children and Family Services, 854 So. 2d 777, 779 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003): Because stability for children is so important to both their physical and mental well-being, the Legislature requires that no child remain in foster care longer than one year so that permanent placement may be achieved as soon as possible. See

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