Florida Florida Statutes
§ 39.6011 — Case plan development
FS § 39.6011Ch. 39
Statute text
View on source(1)The department shall prepare a draft of the case plan for each child receiving services under this chapter. A parent of a child may not be threatened or coerced with the loss of custody or parental rights for failing to admit in the case plan of abusing, neglecting, or abandoning a child. Participating in the development of a case plan is not an admission to any allegation of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and it is not a consent to a finding of dependency or termination of parental rights. The case plan shall be developed subject to the following requirements:(a) The case plan must be developed in a face-to-face conference with the parent of the child, the court-appointed guardian ad litem, and, if appropriate, the child and the temporary custodian of the child.
(b)Notwithstanding s. 39.202, the department may discuss confidential information during the case planning conference in the presence of individuals who participate in the conference. All individuals who participate in the conference shall maintain the confidentiality of all information shared during the case planning conference.
(c)The parent may receive assistance from any person or social service agency in preparing the case plan. The social service agency, the department, and the court, when applicable, shall inform the parent of the right to receive such assistance, including the right to assistance of counsel.
(d)If a parent is unwilling or unable to participate in developing a case plan, the department shall document that unwillingness or inability to participate. The documentation must be provided in writing to the parent when available for the court record, and the department shall prepare a case plan conforming as nearly as possible with the requirements set forth in this section. The unwillingness or inability of the parent to participate in developing a case plan does not preclude the filing of a petition for dependency or for termination of parental rights. The parent, if available, must be provided a copy of the case plan and be advised that he or she may, at any time before the filing of a petition for termination of parental rights, enter into a case plan and that he or she may request judicial review of any provision of the case plan with which he or she disagrees at any court hearing set for the child.
(2)The case plan must be written simply and clearly in English and, if English is not the principal language of the child's parent, to the extent possible in the parent's principal language. Each case plan must contain:(a) A description of the identified problem being addressed, including the parent's behavior or acts resulting in risk to the child and the reason for the intervention by the department.
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Legislative history
s. 16, ch. 2006-86; s. 16, ch. 2017-151; s. 6, ch. 2018-103; s. 5, ch. 2018-108; s. 8, ch. 2019-128; s. 7, ch. 2021-51; s. 20, ch. 2024-70.