The Florida Senate

¹39.464  Grounds for termination of parental rights.--

(1)  The department, the guardian ad litem, a licensed child-placing agency, or any person who has knowledge of the facts alleged or who is informed of said facts and believes that they are true, may petition for the termination of parental rights under any of the following circumstances:

(a)  When the parent or parents voluntarily executed a written surrender of the child and consented to the entry of an order giving custody of the child to the department or to a licensed child-placing agency for subsequent adoption and the department or licensed child-placing agency is willing to accept custody of the child.

1.  The surrender document must be executed before two witnesses and a notary public or other person authorized to take acknowledgments.

2.  The surrender and consent may be withdrawn after acceptance by the department or licensed child-placing agency only after a finding by the court that the surrender and consent were obtained by fraud or duress.

²(b)  When the identity or location of the parent or parents is unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent search as provided in s. 39.4625 within 60 days.

(c)  When the parent or parents engaged in conduct toward the child or toward other children that demonstrates that the continuing involvement of the parent or parents in the parent-child relationship threatens the life or well-being of the child irrespective of the provision of services. Provision of services is evidenced by proof that services were provided through a previous plan or offered as a case plan from a child welfare agency.

(d)  When the parent of a child is incarcerated in a state or federal correctional institution and:

1.  The period of time for which the parent is expected to be incarcerated will constitute a substantial portion of the period of time before the child will attain the age of 18 years;

2.  The incarcerated parent has been determined by the court to be a violent career criminal as defined in s. 775.084, a habitual violent felony offender as defined in s. 775.084, or a sexual predator as defined in s. 775.21; has been convicted of first degree or second degree murder in violation of s. 782.04 or a sexual battery that constitutes a capital, life, or first degree felony violation of s. 794.011; or has been convicted of an offense in another jurisdiction which is substantially similar to one of the offenses listed in this paragraph. As used in this section, the term "substantially similar offense" means any offense that is substantially similar in elements and penalties to one of those listed in this paragraph, and that is in violation of a law of any other jurisdiction, whether that of another state, the District of Columbia, the United States or any possession or territory thereof, or any foreign jurisdiction; and

3.  The court determines by clear and convincing evidence that continuing the parental relationship with the incarcerated parent would be harmful to the child and, for this reason, that termination of the parental rights of the incarcerated parent is in the best interest of the child.

(e)  When the parent or parents engaged in egregious conduct that endangers the life, health, or safety of the child or the child's sibling or had the opportunity and capability to prevent egregious conduct that threatened the life, health, or safety of the child or the child's sibling and knowingly failed to do so.

1.  As used in this subsection, the term "sibling" means another child who resides with or is cared for by the parent or parents regardless of whether the child is related legally or by consanguinity.

2.  As used in this subsection, the term "egregious abuse" means conduct of the parent or parents that is deplorable, flagrant, or outrageous by a normal standard of conduct. Egregious abuse may include an act or omission that occurred only once but was of such intensity, magnitude, or severity as to endanger the life of the child.

(f)  A petition for termination of parental rights may also be filed when a child has been adjudicated dependent, a case plan has been filed with the court, and the child continues to be abused, neglected, or abandoned by the parents. In this case, the failure of the parents to substantially comply for a period of 12 months after an adjudication of the child as a dependent child constitutes evidence of continuing abuse, neglect, or abandonment unless the failure to substantially comply with the case plan was due either to the lack of financial resources of the parents or to the failure of the department to make reasonable efforts to reunify the family. Such 12-month period may begin to run only after the entry of a disposition order placing the custody of the child with the department or a person other than the parent and the subsequent filing with the court of a case plan with a goal of reunification with the parent.

(2)  When a petition for termination of parental rights is filed under subsection (1), a separate petition for dependency need not be filed and the department need not offer the parents a case plan with a goal of reunification, but may instead file with the court a case plan with a goal of termination of parental rights.

History.--s. 9, ch. 87-289; s. 16, ch. 90-306; s. 4, ch. 90-309; s. 7, ch. 92-158; s. 35, ch. 94-164; s. 1, ch. 97-226; s. 12, ch. 97-276.

¹Note.--Section 6, ch. 97-226, provides that "[t]his act shall [take] effect October 1, 1997, and applies to any person incarcerated after October 1, 1997, who is sentenced to a term of incarceration which would qualify under the provisions of this act, as well as to any persons who are sentenced after that date."

²Note.--Section 12, ch. 97-276, amended paragraph (b) of subsection (1), effective July 1, 1998, to read:

(b)  When the identity or location of the parent or parents is unknown and, if the court requires a diligent search pursuant to s. 39.4625, cannot be ascertained by diligent search as provided in s. 39.4625 within 90 days.