Fla. Stat. § 984.225 — Florida Code / Title XLVII / Chapter 984 / Section 984.225
984.225 Powers of disposition; placement in a shelter.
Status: in_force

(1) The court may order that a child adjudicated as a child in need of services be placed in shelter to enforce the court’s orders, to ensure the child attends school, to ensure the child receives needed counseling, and to ensure the child adheres to a service plan. While a child is in a shelter, the child shall receive education commensurate with his or her grade level and educational ability. The department, or the department’s authorized agent, must verify to the court that a shelter bed is available for the child. If the department or the department’s authorized agent verifies that a bed is not available, the department shall place the child’s name on a waiting list. The child who has been on the waiting list the longest shall get the next available bed.

(2) The court shall order the parent, legal guardian, or custodian to cooperate with reunification efforts and participate in counseling. If a parent, legal guardian, or custodian prefers to arrange counseling or other services with a private provider in lieu of using services provided by the department, the family shall pay all costs associated with those services.

(3) Placement of a child under this section is designed to provide residential care on a temporary basis. Such placement does not abrogate the legal responsibilities of the parent, legal guardian, or custodian with respect to the child, except to the extent that those responsibilities are temporarily altered by court order. (a) The court may order any child adjudicated a child in need of services to be placed in shelter for up to 35 days. (b) After other alternative, less restrictive, remedies have been exhausted, the child may be placed in shelter for up to 90 days if: 1. The child’s parent, legal guardian, or custodian refuses to provide food, clothing, shelter, and necessary parental support for the child and the refusal is a direct result of an established pattern of significant disruptive behavior of the child in the home of the parent, legal guardian, or custodian; 2. The child refuses to remain under the reasonable care and custody of the parent, legal guardian, or custodian, as evidenced by repeatedly running away and failing to comply with a court order; or 3. The child has failed to successfully complete an alternative treatment program or to comply with court-ordered services and the child has been placed in a shelter on at least one prior occasion pursuant to a court order after the child has been adjudicated a child in need of services.

(4) The court shall review the child’s 90-day shelter placement within 45 days after the child’s placement and determine whether continued shelter is deemed necessary. The court shall also determine whether the parent, legal guardian, or custodian has reasonably participated in the child’s counseling and treatment program, and is following the recommendations of the program to work toward reunification. The court shall also determine whether the department’s reunification efforts have been reasonable. If the court finds an inadequate level of support or participation by the parent, legal guardian, or custodian before the end of the shelter commitment period, the court shall direct a staffing to take place with the Department of Children and Families.

(5) If a child has not been reunited with his or her parent, legal guardian, or custodian at the expiration of the 90-day commitment period, the court may order that the child remain in the shelter for an additional 30 days if the court finds that reunification could be achieved within that period. The department is deemed to have exhausted the reasonable remedies offered under this chapter if, at the end of the 90-day shelter period, the parent, legal guardian, or custodian continues to refuse to allow the child to remain at home or creates unreasonable conditions for the child’s return. If, at the end of the 90-day shelter period, the child is not reunited with his or her parent, legal guardian, or custodian due solely to the continued refusal of the parent, legal guardian, or custodian to provide food, clothing, shelter, and parental support, the child is considered to be threatened with harm as a result of such acts or omissions, and the court shall direct that the child be handled in every respect as a dependent child. Jurisdiction shall be transferred to the custody of the Department of Children and Families, and the child’s care shall be governed under the relevant provisions of chapter 39. The department shall coordinate with the Department of Children and Families as provided in s. 984.086. The clerk of court shall serve the Department of Children and Families with any court order of referral.

(6) If the child requires residential mental health treatment or residential care for a developmental disability, the court shall refer the child to the Agency for Persons with Disabilities or to the Department of Children and Families for the provision of necessary services.

History: s. 12, ch. 97-281; s. 74, ch. 98-280; s. 3, ch. 2000-134; s. 51, ch. 2010-117; s. 341, ch. 2014-19; s. 26, ch. 2025-153.