E.P., Etc. v. Department of Children and Families

FIRST DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL STATE OF FLORIDA _____________________________

No. 1D2024-2901 _____________________________

E.P., Mother of S.M., a Minor Child,

Appellant,

v.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES and GUARDIAN AD LITEM,

Appellees. _____________________________

On appeal from the Circuit Court for Leon County. Barbara K. Hobbs, Judge.

May 9, 2025

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

PER CURIAM.

The court grants the motion for rehearing and substitutes the prior opinion with the following.

The court denies the motion to compel docketed on March 21, 2025. The court grants the motions to dismiss submitted by the appellees. See § 39.01(12), Fla. Stat. (defining “child” and “youth” to mean “any unmarried person under the age of 18 years who has not been emancipated by order of the court”); § 39.621(10), Fla.

Stat. (stating that “permanency placement is intended to continue until the child reaches the age of majority”); cf. O.I.C.L. v. Fla. Dep’t of Child. & Fams., 205 So. 3d 575, 578 (Fla. 2016) (holding that appellate question pertaining to denial of private petition for dependency was moot because “an individual over the age of 18 fails to satisfy Florida’s statutory definition of a ‘child’ who can be adjudicated a dependent child”).

DISMISSED as moot.

LEWIS, WINOKUR, and TANENBAUM, JJ., concur. _____________________________

Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________

E.B., pro se, Appellant.

Sarah J. Rumph, Children’s Legal Services, Tallahassee, for Appellee Department of Children and Families.

Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb, Sarah T. Weitz, Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office, Tallahassee, for Appellee Guardian ad Litem.