A.L., Father of A.L., Minor Child, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (2022)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

A.L., Father of A.L., Minor Child, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, Appellee.

No. 1D21-2706

Decided: May 16, 2022

Samuel T. Lea of the Law Office of Samuel T. Lea, Orlando, for Appellant. Ward L. Metzger of Children's Legal Services, Tallahassee, for Appellee Department of Children and Families. Sara Elizabeth Goldfarb, Statewide Director of Appeals, and Amanda Victoria Glass, Senior Attorney, Appellate Division, Tallahassee, for Guardian ad Litem o/b/o A.L.

Considering the evidence presented at the adjudicatory hearing “from a perspective favorable to sustaining dependency,” T.H. v. Florida Department of Children and Families, 308 So. 3d 678, 681 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020), competent, substantial evidence supported the trial court's order adjudicating A.L. dependent. There was sufficient evidence of an ongoing environment of domestic violence at Appellant's home that endangered A.L., along with ongoing substance abuse. Despite being given the opportunity to do so, Appellant had not sufficiently remedied the issues. While A.L., a newborn, had not been abandoned, abused, or neglected, she was at “substantial risk of imminent abuse” and so was properly found to be dependent. § 39.01(15)(f), Fla. Stat. (2020). We reject Appellant's argument to the contrary.

Affirmed.

Per Curiam.

Lewis, Tanenbaum, and Long, JJ., concur.

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