C.S. v. S.H.
Florida District Court of Appeal
671 So. 2d 260 (1996)

- Written by Katrina Sumner, JD
Facts
S.D.V-H. was born prematurely in August 1992 with several physical ailments, including an addiction to crack cocaine. The Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services (the department) arranged for S.D.V-H. to live with foster parents S.H. and K.H. (defendants) on a temporary basis. To become foster parents, S.H. and K.H. signed an agreement acknowledging that a foster child was under the department’s control, S.H. and K.H. would not pursue legal custody of a foster child, they would cooperate with the department’s efforts to place the child with an adoptive resource, a child could be removed at any moment, and so forth. Despite this, after S.D.V-H.’s mother consented to the termination of her parental rights and the department sought to place S.D.V-H. with an appropriate placement in December 1993, when she was only 16 months old—namely, her biological aunt, C.S., and the aunt’s husband, J.S. (plaintiffs)—S.H. and K.H. refused to release S.D.V-H. and sought injunctive relief. A trial court granted a temporary injunction that prevented the department from removing S.D.V-H. from S.H. and K.H.’s custody. The temporary injunction would remain in effect until trial in October 1995. Both couples filed adoption petitions. The trial court decided that it was authorized to waive the department’s consent and allow the foster parents to adopt S.D.V-H. rather than allowing adoption by her relatives, as selected by the department. The trial court made this decision, holding that the department had acted unreasonably in not allowing S.H. and K.H. to adopt S.D.V-H. given that she had been in their care for three years and had bonded with them. The court’s ruling did not acknowledge that were it not for the temporary injunction it granted, S.D.V-H. could have been adopted sooner.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pariente, J.)
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