How long can a DCF case stay open in Florida?

One of the biggest fears parents face when faced with allegations of child endangerment or abuse. If you find yourself involved in a similar situation, you will most likely end up going through an addiction case being handled by the Florida court. With such ailments, parents risk losing their children temporarily or even permanently.

It goes without saying that this can be a very scary time for parents. Therefore, it is important to have the right support and knowledge to handle an addiction case. In this article, we explain what dependency law is and how dependency cases are handled in Florida.

Dealing with DCF in Florida

1. Treat the investigator with courtesy and respect, even if he is very aggressive towards you. If you go crazy with them, they may get the impression that you can easily go crazy with your kid.
2. Be sure to ask for the investigator’s name and contact information. Let her know you’ll be contacting her for a follow-up and ask her when is a good time to call.
3. If you have a pending family or domestic violence case and have received affirmative or neutral orders from a judge, hearing officer, or magistrate, make copies for the investigator to keep.
   1. Related: What you can do to protect yourself from allegations of domestic violence
   2. Collect the names, phone numbers, and email addresses of witnesses who positive observations could make their upbringing for the researchers. While your family might seem like the best option, teachers, day care workers, and doctors are the impartial professionals DCF likes to hear from.
   3. Please mark on your calendar 60 days after the call (you may need to ask the investigator when the call was made). Within 60 days, you have the right to request a copy of the DCF investigator’s written report.
   4. If courses are offered to help you improve your parenting, take them. DCF cares for parents who think they don’t need help. All parents need help. Admitting that parenting is sometimes difficult and that you’re interested in doing a better job as a parent will only help your standing at DCF.
   5. If proceedings are opened at the alimony court, it is advisable to hire a lawyer specializing in alimony matters. When choosing a lawyer, one of the best could be a former DCF lawyer, benefit from their internal system knowledge.
   6. When 60 days have passed, go personally to the DCF office and request a copy of the report. Keep it in a safe place. If you are represented by a family law attorney in a pending family lawsuit, be sure to give them a copy. If you are not represented and DCF does not recommend action, you can ask the family court judge if they are interested in seeing the report. In some cases they already have a copy, in other cases the judge may not be able to read the report unless a DCF employee certifies its authenticity. This means you may need to subpoena the DCF officer to testify about the report.
   7. If you are in an active domestic violence or family court case during the DCF investigation, do not attempt to subpoena DCF until those 60 days have elapsed. You may not comment or testify in relation to an active litigation. investigation and you lose your time and the screening fee.
   8. Try not to take it personally. Either someone is mad at you and making false claims, or someone genuinely cares about your child’s safety. The latter is a good thing.
   1. Relatives: What you should do to protect yourself from allegations of domestic violence

   I’m a good parent but someone called the Department of Children and families and filed a complaint against me. What should I do?

   First of all keep calm. The Children and Families Department (“DCF”) aims to ensure that children are protected from abuse, neglect or abandonment while doing everything possible to keep families together. Therefore, if a call is made to the Florida Abuse Hotline alleging that a child is being abused, neglected, or abandoned, the Abuse Hotline counselor must determine whether the information received meets the criteria to be accepted and reported to a Florida investigator Being assigned to the Abuse Hotline. Child Protection Investigator (“CPI”). Once a call is made, Florida law requires the Child Protection Investigator to determine whether children in your household have been harmed.

   Second, please remember that This is often the case where a false report is made in order to gain an advantage in a family divorce or paternity matter DCF is very aware of such situations and if no harm arises the investigation will most likely be dropped without abuse, neglect or abandoned

   .