M.S., the father, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

M.S., the father, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, and Guardian Ad Litem Appellees.

No. 4D21-3027

Decided: March 30, 2022

Albert W. Guffanti of Albert W. Guffanti, P.A., Miami, for appellant. Carolyn Schwarz of Children's Legal Services, Fort Lauderdale, for appellee Department of Children and Families. Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb, Statewide Director of Appeals, and Sarah Todd Weitz, Senior Attorney, Statewide Guardian ad Litem office, Tallahassee, for appellee Guardian ad Litem.

We affirm without discussion, on all arguments raised, the circuit court's final order terminating the father's parental rights. As in V.S. v. Department of Children & Families, 322 So. 3d 1153 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021), we also certify the following question of great public importance to the supreme court:

Does the 2014 amendment to section 39.806(1)(f), Florida Statutes, which provides that no proof of nexus between egregious conduct toward one child is required to terminate the parental rights of the child's siblings, unconstitutionally remove the state's burden to prove that the egregious conduct poses a substantial risk of harm to each sibling and is the least restrictive means of protecting the sibling(s) from serious harm?

Affirmed; question certified.

Per Curiam.

Conner, C.J., Gerber and Kuntz, JJ., concur.

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