Case Name: Shirley FREDRICK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1988-03-03
Citations: 523 So. 2d 1164
Docket Number: No. 87-172
Parties: Shirley FREDRICK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, Appellee.
Judges: UPCHURCH, F.D., Jr., Judge, Retired, concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 523
Pages: 1164–1171

Head Matter:
Shirley FREDRICK, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, Appellee.
No. 87-172.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
March 3, 1988.
Rehearing Denied April 27, 1988.
Jay Paul Cohen of Dvorak & Cohen, P.A., Orlando, for appellant.
James A. Sawyer, Jr., Orlando, for Ap-pellee.
J.E. Willingham, Jr., Maitland, for guardian ad litem.

Opinion:
GREEN, O.L., Jr., Associate Judge.
Shirley Fredrick appeals from an order terminating parental rights and committing her natural child, K.F., to the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services for adoption. We affirm.
Fredrick complains she was not provided counsel sufficiently early during a long course of legal proceedings so that she could better protect herself from the intru sive conduct of the state. She complains about not being granted a trial continuance so that she could properly prepare for the adjudicatory proceeding. She also complains the amended petition for termination of parental rights was legally deficient and the trial judge committed reversible errors during the adjudicatory and dispositional hearing. These issues will be addressed after a basic recitation of the case history.
This case originated in January of 1982 when Fredrick's child, K.F., then age seven, was adjudicated dependent because of truancy. The dependency order required family counseling to include the appellant, K.F., and K.F.'s four brothers. Fredrick was required to attend parenting classes and to become involved in a homemaker's program. Semi-annual reviews of the case were held by the court over the next three years.
During December, 1984, HRS filed a dependency foster care placement petition on behalf of K.F. The petition cited K.F.'s continued truancy and Fredrick's neglect and inability or refusal to control or provide for her five children. The petition also recited that all efforts to rehabilitate the family had failed, although some thirteen varied programs had been attempted. K.F. was adjudicated dependent on December 17, 1984. Shortly thereafter, she was removed from Fredrick's home and placed in a child care home approximately fifteen miles from where Fredrick lived.
A performance agreement was entered into between HRS and Fredrick in February of 1985. The performance agreement specified that the mother should strive to develop parenting skills and new methods of discipline; provide proper food, clothing, medical care and housing for the family; and obtain full-time employment to provide sufficient income to meet the needs of her family. The performance agreement also required Fredrick to participate in parenting classes and obtain a home of at least three bedrooms with proper food and clothing for the child. Fredrick agreed to visit K.F. at the care home and provide her own transportation.
On June 14, 1985, a review hearing was held at which the judge continued the performance agreement for three months and required the mother to complete a CETA application within five days and to enroll within five days in parenting classes. Subsequently, in December 1985, another review was held which was not attended by Fredrick. The court then referred the case to the Adoption and Related Services Unit of HRS for further action.
On February 7, 1986, HRS filed a petition for termination of parental rights and permanent commitment for adoption on behalf of K.F., and counsel was promptly appointed for Fredrick. Fredrick's counsel was granted a motion for continuance of a final hearing scheduled for July 23, 1986. On September 4,1986, four days before the final hearing was held, HRS filed an amended petition for termination of parental rights and permanent commitment for adoption. On September 8, 1986, Fredrick's attorney unsuccessfully moved to continue the final hearing because of new allegations in the amended petition. Both petitions recited as a basis for permanent commitment that K.F. was previously adjudged dependent because of habitual truancy and that the child had been in foster care since January 4, 1985. Both petitions recited Fredrick's failure to comply with the performance agreement filed on February 15, 1985. Both petitions alleged abandonment and neglect of K.F. by Fredrick. The amended petition added the terms "chronic neglect" and "prospective neglect." The final hearing took place over a three-day period.
It was established that during the course of HRS's contact with Fredrick she did little or nothing to require school attendance of the children, and, on many occasions, when her children were literally running the streets at night, she was at bars, including a particular establishment known as Liquor World. On one occasion, after midnight, K.F. was seen by a police officer running down the middle of a busy public highway, barely being missed by a moving vehicle. The officer complained to Fredrick with no responsive improvement of supervision by her.
As previously mentioned, K.F. was eventually adjudged to be dependent and placed in a child care home ten to fifteen miles from where Fredrick lived. Fredrick did not visit K.F. for over a year during the time the child was at the care facility, and only sent one card during that period.
K.F. complained to authorities that she was often hungry at home, although her testimony at the trial was defensive of her mother. When asked if she was ever hungry at home, the child testified, "I don't eat much anyway — I don't get hungry too often."
The evidence established that Fredrick's living accomodations were woefully inadequate and unsuitable for the rearing of children. It was further established that in spite of several opportunities presented to Fredrick, such as CETA training and courses to train her in parental techniques, Fredrick made little effort to improve herself. Fredrick's three older children are not residing at home and her youngest child resides in a private institution for emotionally disturbed children. It is significant that the youngest child was taken into care by HRS for the same reason as K.F. It is also significant that the condition of this child has greatly improved since he was taken from Fredrick's home.
The record reflects that on the occasions K.F. was removed from Fredrick's home, her condition and general performance improved dramatically. Fredrick presented the testimony of a psychologist and a mental health counselor, who testified that K.F. retains a strong family bond. The psychologist recommended that every effort be made to reunite the family. On the other hand, K.F. was assigned a guardian ad litem, who joins the state in recommending K.F.'s permanent placement for adoption.
We now address the issues raised in this appeal. Fredrick complains she was not appointed counsel until the petition for permanent commitment was filed. There is nothing in the record that indicates HRS was, during the period Fredrick was without counsel, taking steps other than to rehabilitate her in becoming a suitable custodial parent. While we recognize that performance agreements and dependency proceedings are often the first steps towards permanent commitment, there does not appear to be evidence that HRS's relationship with Fredrick was of an extreme adversarial nature before the filing of the petition for permanent commitment. To the contrary, it appears that HRS would have welcomed a significant improvement by Fredrick. The evidence was conclusive that HRS made valiant efforts to reunite K.F. with Fredrick but that Fredrick was a miserable failure in her parental role.
The right to counsel in juvenile proceedings must be determined by the relevant circumstances of each case, including the following criteria: (1) the potential length of parent-child separation; (2) the degree of parental restrictions on visitations; (3) the presence or absence of parental consent; (4) the presence or absence of disputed facts; and (5) the complexity of the proceedings in terms of witnesses and documents. Cleaver v. Wilcox, 499 F.2d 940 (9th Cir.1974); In Interest of D.B., 385 So.2d 83 (Fla.1980); Potvin v. Keller, 313 So.2d 703 (Fla.1975); White v. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, 483 So.2d 861 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986); In Interest of S.J.T., 475 So.2d 951 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).
In the instant case, reasonable efforts were made by HRS to avoid a prolonged separation of Fredrick from K.F. prior to the filing of the petition for permanent commitment. HRS encouraged visitation by Fredrick during the time K.F. was residing in the child facility. Furthermore, it does not appear that Fredrick strenuously objected to the intrusion of HRS into her family life, but only resented certain provisions in the consent agreement. Finally, the ultimate facts in the instant case are not seriously disputed and the relationship of HRS with Fredrick only became complex in terms of witnesses and documents upon the filing of the petition for permanent commitment.
Neither the prior dependency adjudications of K.F. nor violation of the performance agreement form a significant basis for permanent termination of parental rights in the instant case. The facts upon which those occurrences ensued were proven by direct and competent evidence in the trial proceedings below. In Interest of R. W., 495 So.2d 133 (Fla.1986); White, v. Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services; In Interest of S.J.T.
Fredrick complains that the original petition and amended petition are vague, indefinite, and fail to state a basis upon which permanent commitment may be ordered. We find that the amended petition adequately states a cause of action. Fla.R.Juv.P. 8.810(a)(1). We also find that the difference between the two petitions is not significant and, under the circumstances of this case, the changes did not cause prejudice to Fredrick, either with respect to trial preparations or participation in trial proceedings. Fredrick's attorney was provided all available relevant material before the trial and has not complained about an insufficiency of pretrial information. We determine that no prejudice has been shown by the trial judge's denial of the motion for continuance. A trial judge has broad discretion with respect to motions for continuances and we find no abuse of discretion in this case. In Re Interest of L. McC., 490 So.2d 1346 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986); In Re Interest of T.J., 466 So.2d 17 (Fla. 5th DCA 1985); Fuller v. Rinebolt, 382 So.2d 1239 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980).
Fredrick complains that the court erred in admitting into evidence the performance agreement which her attorney contends was signed by her under force of threat. This contention is simply not supported by the record. J.H. v. State, 480 So.2d 680 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985).
We find the evidence to be overwhelming that K.F. should be placed for involuntary permanent commitment. In Interest of Smith, 299 So.2d 127 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). We recognize that the trial judge should not have considered certain hearsay testimony with respect to Fredrick using food stamp money to purchase marijuana when her children were going hungry. We find this to be harmless error. (For a contrary result, see In Interest of S.J.T.) We also believe that the trial judge should have scheduled a disposition hearing rather than to consider HRS reports before concluding the adjudicatory hearing. We note that the statute is not clearly defined with respect to prohibiting a combination of adjudicatory and dispositional hearings; however, we stress that the better practice is that these hearings not be combined. § 39.408(3)(d), Fla.Stat. (1985). In any event, virtually all of the information contained in the HRS reports was proved by other competent evidence. In Interest of L.R.R., 455 So.2d 598 (Fla. 5th DCA. 1984); In Interest of R.A.L., 440 So.2d 473 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983).
Finally, Fredrick complains that the trial court failed to order a new predisposition report. It is significant with respect to this issue that the child, K.F., was adjudged dependent on two previous occasions. We note that the evidence presented in this case, including HRS reports, addressed Fredrick's recent living conditions and it does not appear that Fredrick was prejudiced by the lack of a formal report. In Interest of L.R.R.
In summation, we determine that the order permanently terminating parental rights in this case is
AFFIRMED.
UPCHURCH, F.D., Jr., Judge, Retired, concurs.
COWART, J., dissents with opinion.