How to Get a Dependency Case to Move Faster

Parents have a deadline to complete services in a dependency case. F.S. 39.6011 gives parents not more than a year from the date of removal to complete case plan services. If a parent does not timely complete their case plan, then DCF can escalate the case to termination of parental rights and seek to permanently sever the parental rights to a child.

Chapter 39, Florida Statutes, sets out the timelines by which certain hearings are required to be held. One of the most important hearings is the case plan acceptance hearing in which the court determines the details of the parent’s case plan, such as services, specific providers, and the parent’s part of financial responsibility, if any.

Under Chapter 39, it can take 60 days or more to get to a case plan acceptance hearing. That means parents are often left with 10 months or less to complete their case plan services. Because the parent is on a deadline to complete tasks, it is crucial that a parent receive an actionable case plan as soon as possible. A demand for early filing of the dependency petition can expedite the initial hearings in a dependency case and help parents get to a case plan acceptance hearing and a court-approved case plan faster.

A demand for early filing is authorized by F.S. 39.501(4) and F.S. 39.506(1). In Orlando, dependency arraignments are routinely set not more than 14 days from shelter with an early filing demand. Without a demand, the arraignment wouldn’t be scheduled until up to 28 days after shelter (or longer if the parent does not object to the court scheduling the hearing outside statutory time frames).

Click here for the form I use to Demand Early Filing of a Dependency Petition.

Michael DeVoe is a divorce attorney in Orlando, Florida practicing contested divorce, uncontested divorce, timesharing, visitation, custody, paternity, child support, injunctions, and other family law cases.