STATE OF FLORIDA

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES

HONOR AND MARIE SHELLING,

Petitioner,

v. CASE NO. 99 4636

RENDITION NO. DCF-00-218-FO

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, (DISTRICT 6)

Respondent.

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FINAL ORDER DENYING APPLICATION FOR FAMILY FOSTER HOME LICENSE

THIS CAUSE is before me as the result of the attached Recommended Order that was issued by an Administrative Law Judge who had been assigned to hear the case by the Division of Administrative Hearings. The order recommends that the Department grant a family foster home license to Honor and Marie Snelling. I respectfully decline to accept that recommendation.

By letter dated September 22, 1999, the Department, through its district office, notified Honor and Marie Snelling that their application to operate a foster home was being denied. The reason for the denial was given as follows:

According to information provided to the department by . . . the Tampa Police Department, on December 10, 1969, Mr.

Snelling was charged with assault to commit rape. This charge was nolle pressed because the alleged victim failed to show up to court. The arrest report from the Tampa Police Department indicates that the victim alleged that you threatened her with a knife and demanded sexual relations. The arrest report also says that you "stated that part, if not all of what the complainant reported is true."

At the hearing, Mr. Snelling did not dispute the fact that the arrest record exists. He did not dispute the fact that the arrest record reports the alleged commission of a violent act.

He did not dispute the fact that "(t)he arrest report also says that you 'stated that part, if not all of what the complainant reported is true.'"

Rather, according to paragraph 11 of the Recommended Order, Mr. Snelling said that he "did not recall" what he told the police officers in 1969, and, according to both paragraphs 7 and

11 of the Recommended Order, he simply denied having committed the crime. Then, in paragraph 15 of the Recommended Order, the Administrative Law Judge concludes that the Snellings were "entitled" to receive a family foster home license, because, inferentially, the Department failed to overcome Mr. Snelling's denial. (See paragraphs 5, 8 and 9 of the Recommended Order).

But the conclusion of law at paragraph 15 is wrong, and I hereby reverse it.

The granting of family foster home licenses is governed by Section 409.175(2), Florida Statutes (F.S.). Such licenses are privileges and public trusts. Id. According to Section 409.175(2)(f), F.S., no petitioner is ever "entitled" to receive one.

Moreover, the Department should never be put to the impossible task of having to prove the elements of a violent crime in order to prevail over an applicant's denial of having committed it, regardless of how truthful the denial may be.

Where the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable children are in the Department's hands to protect, it is irrelevant to the soundness of the Department's exercise of its discretion whether or not Mr. Snelling committed the crime with which he was charged. See, Phillips v. Department of Juvenile Justice, 736 So.2d 118 (Fla.

4th DCA 1999).

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that the license is denied in Case No. 99-4636.

DONE and ORDERED this 6th day of July, 2000, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

KATHLEEN A. KEARNEY, Secretary

Department of Children and Family Services

Copies of this Final Order are being furnished to:

William F. Quattlebaum Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, FL 32399-3060

Honor and Marie Snelling 19109 Dove Creek Drive Tampa, FL 33647

Raymond Deckert, Esquire District 6 Legal Counsel Department of Children and Family Services

4000 W. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd. Tampa, FL 33614-7093

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL

A party who is adversely affected by this final order is entitled to judicial review. To initiate judicial review, the party seeking it must file one copy of a Notice of Appeal" with the Agency Clerk. The party seeking judicial review must also file another copy of the "Notice of Appeal," accompanied by the filing fee required by law, with the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, Florida, or with the District Court of Appeal in the district where the party resides. The Notices must be filed within thirty (30) days of the rendition of this final order.1

ENDNOTE

1/ The date of the "rendition" of this Final Order is the date that is stamped on its first page. The Notices of Appeal must be received on or before the thirtieth day after that date.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and copy of the foregoing FINAL ORDER has been sent by U.S. Mail or hand delivery to each of the persons named above on this 10 day of July, 2000.

Virginia Daire, Agency Clerk

Department of Children and Family Services 1317 Winewood Blvd. Bldg. 2, Room 204X Tallahassee, FL 32399-0700

(850) 488-2381

Docket for Case No: 99-004636

Orders for Case No: 99-004636