868 So. 2d 1227
District Court of Appeal of Florida | Filed: Mar 22, 2004 | Docket: 451878
Cited 4 times | Published
...below. In 2002, because Mrs. Cleveland had suffered severe financial reversals caused by the death of her husband and extensive health-related expenses, she applied for conversion of the TCA benefits she had been receiving to RC benefits under *1229 section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), following the department's advice to her the preceding year that she might be eligible for greater benefits under the RC program than those available through TCA....
...In reaching its decision, DCF relied on a rule which, at the time Mrs. Cleveland filed her petition in 2002, had become obsolete by reason of subsequent statutory amendments governing the RC program. Initially, we note that chapter 65C-24 was adopted before the enactment of the 2000 amendment to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, [4] which expanded the RC program to long-term relative caregivers, such as Mrs....
...Cleveland, given permanent custody of children adjudicated dependent pursuant to chapter 39. DCF has not modified its rules to implement the amended statute by providing for the eligibility of relatives with long-term permanent custody of children. As such, the unchanged rule clearly contradicts section 39.5085, Florida Statutes (2002), which contains categories of relative caregivers eligible for the program different from those listed in Rule 65C-24.010. *1230 Section 39.5085(2)(a) provides the only eligibility criteria necessary for Mrs. Cleveland to meet. In order for a relative caregiver to be eligible for RC assistance, section 39.5085 requires that (1) the relative be within the fifth degree by blood or marriage to the parent or stepparent of a child for whom they are caring; (2) the relative be caring full-time for a child determined dependent as a result of abuse...
...aced by the dependency court in the care of such relatives. (d) Reserve the limited casework and supervisory resources of the courts and the department for those cases in which children do not have the option for safe, stable care within the family. § 39.5085(1), Fla....
...essed purpose for providing financial assistance to relative caregivers, recognizing that without such provision, they would be unable to serve in such capacity, thereby "exposing the child to the trauma of placement in a shelter or in foster care." § 39.5085(2)(a)(2), Fla....
...We cannot agree with either assertion. At oral argument, Mrs. Cleveland conceded that her eligibility for RC benefits as a relative caregiver with long-term custody arose not through the provisions of the department's rule, but rather from the 2000 amendments to section 39.5085, Florida Statutes, which did not take effect until a year after the rule's adoption....
...Accordingly, we remand the case to the department to decide, either from the evidence before it, or, if necessary, from additional evidence, when, during the ordinary application process, appellant should have received RC benefits if she had been properly determined eligible. Because of the legislative proscription in section 39.5085(2)(e) against children simultaneously receiving both TCA and RC benefits, DCF shall be allowed an offset or credit against RC benefits paid to Mrs....
...08(9)(a)3. or 4., F.S., in (a) Court-ordered temporary legal custody of the relative, or (b) Court-ordered placement in the home of a relative under protective supervision of the department. [3] See Ch. 98-78, § 1, at 554-55, Laws of Fla., enacting section 39.5085, Florida Statutes. [4] For example, section 39.5085(2)(a)(2) provides that placement with a relative may be either court-ordered temporary legal custody to the relative under protective supervision of the department pursuant to s....
