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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to siblings placed in out -of-home 2
care; amending s. 39.4024, F.S.; providing for the 3
importance of visitation, and not just contact, 4
between siblings who have been separated; authorizing 5
a sibling who is separated from his or her other 6
siblings to file a specified motion; providing 7
standing; requiring the court to hold a hearing, take 8
evidence, and hear arguments if a motion for sibling 9
visitation or contact is contested; prohibiting the 10
court from denying such a motion unless certain 11
circumstances exist; requiring the immediate provision 12
of certain services under certain circumstances; 13
authorizing certain parties to appeal the court order 14
in a specified manner; prohibiting a court from 15
restricting sibling visitation or contact without the 16
need for a motion; amending s. 39.6221, F.S.; 17
providing that a court retains jurisdiction over a 18
dependent child in a permanent guardianship for 19
certain purposes relating to sibling visitation or 20
contact; amending s. 63.0427, F.S.; prohibiting the 21
court from denying postadoption visitation or contact 22
between siblings unless certain circumstances exist; 23
requiring the immediate provision of certain services 24
under certain circumstances; specifying that certain 25
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factors must be considered for postadoption visitati on 26
or contact between an adopted child and certain 27
persons; providing that a court retains jurisdiction 28
over an adopted child for certain purposes until the 29
child is a specified age; amending s. 63.093, F.S.; 30
revising the required response the Department o f 31
Children and Families or a community -based care lead 32
agency must provide to a prospective adoptive parent; 33
providing an effective date. 34
35
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 36
37
Section 1. Subsection (4), paragraph (b) of subsec tion 38
(5), and paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (6) of section 39
39.4024, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 40
39.4024 Placement of siblings; visitation; continuing 41
contact.— 42
(4) MAINTAINING VISITATION OR CONTACT WHEN SIBLINGS ARE 43
SEPARATED.— 44
(a) Regular visitation or contact among a sibling group 45
that cannot be placed together, especially among siblings with 46
existing attachments to each other, is critical for the siblings 47
to maintain their existing bonds and relationships or to develop 48
such bonds and attachments, if appropriate. The following 49
practices must be considered in helping to maintain or 50
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strengthen the relationships of separated siblings: 51
1. Respect and support the child's ties to his or her 52
birth or legal family, including parents, sibl ings, and extended 53
family members, must be provided by the caregiver, and he or she 54
must assist the child in maintaining allowable visitation and 55
other forms of communication. The department and lead agency 56
shall provide a caregiver with the information, g uidance, 57
training, and support necessary for fulfilling this 58
responsibility. 59
2. Provide adequate support to address any caregiver 60
concerns and to enhance the caregiver's ability to facilitate 61
visitation or contact between siblings who are not in the same 62
out-of-home placement and promote the benefits of sibling 63
contact. 64
3. Prioritize placements with kinship caregivers who have 65
an established personal relationship with each child so that 66
even when siblings cannot be placed together in the same home, 67
kinship caregivers are more likely to facilitate visitation or 68
contact. 69
4. Prioritize placement of siblings geographically near 70
each other, such as in the same neighborhood or school district, 71
to make it easier for the siblings to have regular visitation or 72
contact see each other regularly . 73
5. Encourage frequent and regular visitation, if the 74
siblings choose to do so, to allow the children to be actively 75
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involved in each other's lives and to participate in 76
celebrations, including, but not limited to, birthd ays, 77
graduations, holidays, school and extracurricular activities, 78
cultural customs, and other milestones. 79
6. Provide other forms of contact when regular in -person 80
meetings are not possible or are not sufficient to meet the 81
needs or desires of the siblin gs, such as maintaining frequent 82
contact through letters, e -mail, social media, cards, or 83
telephone calls. 84
7. Coordinate, when possible, joint outings or summer or 85
weekend camp experiences to facilitate time together, including, 86
but not limited to, activ ities or camps specifically designed 87
for siblings in out-of-home care. 88
8. Encourage joint respite care to assist the caregivers 89
who are caring for separated siblings to have needed breaks 90
while also facilitating visitation or contact among the 91
siblings, including, but not limited to, providing babysitting 92
or respite care for each other. A child being moved temporarily 93
as respite care for the purpose of providing the primary 94
caregiver relief and encouraging and facilitating visitation or 95
contact among the siblings does not constitute a placement 96
change or require the convening of a multidisciplinary team. 97
9. Prohibit the withholding of communication or visitation 98
or contact among the siblings as a form of punishment. 99
(b)1. A sibling who is separated from his or her other 100
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siblings due to a placement or adoption made pursuant to this 101
chapter may file a motion for sibling visitation or contact in a 102
court with jurisdiction over one or more of the siblings. A 103
sibling within a sibling group has standing to file such motion, 104
obtain discovery, present evidence, and make arguments in 105
support of the request for sibling visitation or contact 106
regardless of his or her status as a party or participant in the 107
case for which the motio n was filed. 108
2. If a motion for sibling visitation or contact is 109
contested, the court must hold a hearing, take evidence, and 110
hear arguments from all of the siblings in the sibling group and 111
the parties. The court may not deny a motion for sibling 112
visitation or contact unless it finds by clear and convincing 113
evidence that such visitation or contact is contrary to the 114
safety and well-being of one or more of the siblings. The court 115
must render a written order of its decision. If the court denies 116
sibling visitation or contact, but services are available which 117
would reasonably be expected to ameliorate the risk to the 118
sibling's safety or well -being, the court must direct the 119
department or the community -based care lead agency to provide 120
such services immediatel y in order to restore visitation or 121
contact between the siblings. 122
3. A sibling, a party to the proceeding who is affected by 123
a court order issued under this paragraph, or the department may 124
appeal the court's decision to the appropriate district court of 125
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appeal with the time and in the manner prescribed by the Florida 126
Rules of Appellate Procedure. 127
(c)(b) Regardless of whether a motion is filed under 128
paragraph (b), the court may not limit or restrict communication 129
or visitation or contact under this subsection unless there is a 130
finding that the communication or visitation or contact between 131
the child and his or her siblings is contrary to the safety or 132
well-being of the child. If the court makes such a finding, and 133
services are available that would reason ably be expected to 134
ameliorate the risk to the child's safety or well -being that are 135
the basis of the court's finding and that may result in the 136
communication and visitation or contact being restored, the 137
court must direct the department or community -based care lead 138
agency to immediately provide such services. 139
(5) SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS. — 140
(b) If a child in a sibling group who has been placed in 141
an out-of-home care placement with his or her siblings does not 142
adjust to the placement, the lead agency must prov ide services 143
to the caregiver and sibling group in accordance with s. 144
39.4023(3) to try to prevent the disruption of the placement. If 145
after reasonable efforts are made under s. 39.4023(3), the child 146
still has not adjusted to the out -of-home placement, a 147
multidisciplinary team staffing must be convened to determine 148
what is best for all of the children. The multidisciplinary team 149
shall review the current placement of the sibling group and 150
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choose a plan that will be least detrimental to each child. If 151
the team determines that the best decision is to move the child 152
who has not adjusted to a new out -of-home placement, the team 153
must develop a transition plan in accordance with ss. 39.4022 154
and 39.4023 which ensures the opportunity for the siblings to 155
maintain visitation or contact in accordance with subsection (4) 156
of this section. 157
(6) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS. — 158
(b)1. If a child's sibling is also in out -of-home care and 159
such sibling leaves out -of-home care due to emancipation or 160
reunification with his or her parent or guardian, the child must 161
be allowed visitation or contact to communicate with that 162
emancipated or reunified sibling, if the emancipated sibling or 163
the reunified sibling and his or her parent consent. 164
2. If a child's sibling is al so in out-of-home care and 165
such sibling leaves out -of-home care for any reason, including, 166
but not limited to, the reasons in subparagraph 1. and 167
visitation or contact communication is not occurring, the child 168
has a right to have the court consider the app ropriateness of 169
continued visitation or contact communication with his or her 170
sibling. The court shall consider the recommendation of the 171
department or community -based care lead agency and any other 172
information deemed relevant by the court. 173
3. If a child's sibling leaves out -of-home care because he 174
or she is adopted, the child may be allowed to have continued 175
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visitation or contact communication with the sibling either by 176
consent of the adoptive parent or by order of the court in 177
accordance with subsection (4) or s. 63.0427. 178
(c) The department or the lead agency must document in 179
writing any decision to separate siblings in the case file as 180
required in s. 39.00146 and document the decision in the Florida 181
Safe Families Network. The documentation must includ e any 182
efforts made to keep the siblings together, an assessment of the 183
short-term and long-term effects of separation on each child and 184
the sibling group as a whole, and a description of the plan for 185
visitation communication or contact between the children if 186
separation is approved. 187
Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 39.6221, Florida 188
Statutes, is amended to read: 189
39.6221 Permanent guardianship of a dependent child. — 190
(5) The court shall retain jurisdiction over the case and 191
the child shall remain in the custody of the permanent guardian 192
unless the order creating the permanent guardianship is modified 193
by the court. The court also retains jurisdiction to hear a 194
sibling's motion for visitation or contact filed pursuant to s. 195
39.4024(4)(b), and the court may issue an order establishing or 196
modifying sibling visitation or contact without modifying the 197
guardianship. The court shall discontinue regular review 198
hearings and relieve the department of the responsibility for 199
supervising the placement of the child. Notwithstanding Not 200
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withstanding the retention of jurisdiction by the court, a child 201
who is placed in a permanent guardianship is considered to have 202
reached permanency the placement shall be considered permanency 203
for the child. 204
Section 3. Section 63.0427, Florida Statutes, is amended 205
to read: 206
63.0427 Agreements for Continued visitation communication 207
or contact between adopted child and siblings, parents, and 208
other relatives.— 209
(1) A child whose parents have had their parental rights 210
terminated and whose custody has been awarded to the department 211
pursuant to s. 39.811, and who is the subject of a petition for 212
adoption under this chapter, has shall have the right to have 213
the court consider the appropriateness of postadoption 214
visitation communication or contact, including, but not limited 215
to, visits, written correspondence, or telephone calls, with his 216
or her siblings or, upon agreement of the adoptive parents , with 217
the parents who have had their parental rights terminated , or 218
with other specified biological relatives. 219
(2) The court may not deny postadoption visitation or 220
contact between siblings unless it finds by clear and convincing 221
evidence that such visitation or co ntact is contrary to the 222
safety and well-being of one or more of the siblings. If the 223
court denies postadoption visitation or contact between 224
siblings, but services are available which would reasonably be 225
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expected to ameliorate the risk to the sibling's sa fety or well-226
being, the court must direct the department or the community -227
based care lead agency to provide such services immediately in 228
order to restore visitation or contact between the siblings. 229
(3) With regard to postadoption visitation or contact 230
between an adopted child and parents who have had their parental 231
rights terminated or other specified biological relatives, the 232
court shall consider all of the following in making such 233
determination: 234
(a) Any orders of the court pursuant to s. 39.811(7). 235
(b) Recommendations of the department, the foster parents 236
if other than the adoptive parents, and the guardian ad litem. 237
(c) Statements of the prospective adoptive parents. 238
(d) Any other information deemed relevant and material by 239
the court. 240
(4) If the court determines that the child's best 241
interests will be served by postadoption visitation 242
communication or contact, the court shall so order, stating the 243
nature and frequency of the visitation communication or contact. 244
This order shall be made a part o f the final adoption order, but 245
the continuing validity of the adoption may not be contingent 246
upon such postadoption visitation communication or contact and 247
the ability of the adoptive parents and child to change 248
residence within or outside the State of Fl orida may not be 249
impaired by such visitation communication or contact. The court 250
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retains jurisdiction to hear motions to create or modify 251
postadoption visitation or contact until the child reaches the 252
age of 18. 253
(5)(2) Notwithstanding s. 63.162, the adop tive parent may, 254
at any time, petition for review of a visitation communication 255
or contact order entered under this section pursuant to 256
subsection (1), if the adoptive parent believes that the best 257
interests of the adopted child are being compromised, and the 258
court may order the visitation communication or contact to be 259
terminated or modified, as the court deems to be in the best 260
interests of the adopted child .; however, The court may not 261
increase visitation or contact between the adopted child and his 262
or her siblings, birth parents, or other relatives without the 263
consent of the adoptive parent or parents. As part of the review 264
process, the court may order the parties to engage in mediation. 265
The department is shall not be required to be a party to such 266
review. 267
Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 63.093, Florida 268
Statutes, is amended to read: 269
63.093 Adoption of children from the child welfare 270
system.— 271
(1) The department or community -based care lead agency as 272
defined in s. 409.986(3), or its subcontracted agency, must 273
respond to an initial inquiry from a prospective adoptive parent 274
within 7 business days after receipt of the inquiry. The 275
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response must inform the prospective adoptive parent of the 276
adoption process, and the requirements for adopting a child from 277
the child welfare system , and the expectation that adoptive 278
parents will ensure that a child maintains visitation or contact 279
with his or her siblings, as defined in s. 39.01, after the 280
adoption is finalized . 281
282
Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), this section does not 283
apply to a child adopted through the process provided in s. 284
63.082(6). 285
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 286