STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

MARVA M. LEWIS,

Petitioner,

vs.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Respondent.

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) Case No. 06-0949

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RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a final hearing was conducted in this case before Florence Snyder Rivas, a duly-designated Administrative Law Judge of the Division of Administrative Hearings, on June 16, 2006, via video teleconference at sites in West Palm Beach and Tallahassee, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Marva M. Lewis, pro se

Post Office Box 530686

West Palm Beach, Florida 33422

For Respondent: Karen Goddard, Esquire

Department of Children and Family Services

111 South Sapodilla Avenue, Suite 201 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

Whether Petitioner should be granted a license as a family foster home.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By certified letter dated October 20, 2005, Respondent, the Department of Children and Family Services (Respondent) informed Petitioner, Marva M. Lewis (Petitioner) of its intent to deny her application for a license as a family foster home.

Petitioner timely invoked her right to an administrative hearing to challenge the denial.

On March 6, 2006, Respondent referred the matter to the Division of Administrative Hearings for assignment of an Administrative Law Judge to conduct such hearing. In due course the matter came on for hearing and was recorded by a duly- qualified and authorized Reporter. A transcript of the proceedings has not been provided. Respondent filed a proposed recommended order which has been duly-considered. Petitioner made no post hearing submissions.

Throughout this Recommended Order, references to statutes are to Florida Statutes (2005) and references to rules are to provisions of the Florida Administrative Code (2005), except as

otherwise specified.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Based on the testimony and evidence received at the hearing, the following findings are made:

1. Respondent is the state agency responsible for licensing and regulating family foster homes. See § 409.016, Fla. Stat. and § 409.175, Fla. Stat.

2. Petitioner is an applicant for a family foster home license.

3. In accordance with applicable law governing the licensing of family foster homes, Petitioner attended an orientation conducted by a family services counselor; completed a screening questionnaire; and completed a required program known as Model Approach for Parenting (MAPP). MAPP's purpose is to ensure that individuals who seek to be foster parents have the personal and financial wherewithal to handle the challenges of foster-parenting, and to work effectively with Respondent. During the MAPP process, applicants receive classroom instruction, and submit to an exhaustive investigation into and evaluation of their background. An applicant must furnish truthful and complete information concerning personal and employment history. Detailed information concerning the applicant's financial condition is likewise required. Respondent is required to verify information provided by an applicant during the MAPP process to determine the personal and financial stability of the applicant, as well the applicant's honesty, or lack thereof.

4. In this case, Respondent's attempts to verify information provided by Petitioner as she progressed through the MAPP process revealed that she had omitted significant facts regarding her personal history and financial condition, and had knowingly misrepresented others. One such misrepresentation was that her mother was dead. In fact, her mother was alive, though estranged from Petitioner. This misrepresentation demonstrates that at least one of her significant personal relationships is troubled and unstable to the point where Petitioner denies its existence entirely.

5. Petitioner misrepresented that she lived in North Carolina for five years prior to relocating to Florida in 2004. In fact, Petitioner lived in Florida as far back as 1999. She lived in Palm Beach County, Florida since 2002. Final judgments for eviction were entered against Petitioner in Palm Beach County on August 6, 2002, and on December 14, 2004. Applicants are required to inform Respondent of judgments rendered against them, but Petitioner failed to disclose the evictions on her application.

6. Petitioner falsely represented on her application that her monthly rent was $900. In fact, her monthly rent was $1750.

7. Employment history provided by Petitioner on her application could not be confirmed by Respondent. At hearing,

   Petitioner presented no persuasive evidence regarding her past or current employment.

8. Petitioner falsely represented on her application that she had a working automobile. In fact, Petitioner's automobile had been repossessed.

9. Applicants are required to have sufficient household funds available to cover basic living expenses for a foster child in their care for a four to six week period before a board payment would be provided by Respondent. Petitioner misrepresented to Respondent that she has sufficient funds available for that purpose. In fact, she does not.

10. Petitioner has failed to provide any credible explanation for any of the foregoing misrepresentations and omissions. It is specifically determined that as to each of the foregoing misrepresentations and omissions, Petitioner deliberately misrepresented or withheld information she knew she was required to provide.

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

11. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to and the subject matter of this case pursuant to Section 120.569 and Subsection 120.57(1), Florida Statutes (2006).

12. Section 409.175, Florida Statutes relates to licensure of family foster homes and provides, in pertinent part:

    (1)(a) The purpose of this section is to protect the health, safety, and well-being of all children in the state who are cared for by family foster homes, residential child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies by providing for the establishment of licensing requirements for such homes and agencies and providing procedures to determine adherence to these requirements.

    
    

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    (2) As used in this section, the term:

    
    

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    1. "Family foster home" means a private residence in which children who are unattended by a parent or legal guardian are provided 24-hour care. . . .

       
       

    2. "License" means "license" as defined in s. 120.52(9). A license under this section is issued to a family foster home or other facility and is not a professional license of any individual. Receipt of a license under this section shall not create a property right in the recipient. A license under this act is a public trust and a privilege, and is not an entitlement.

       This privilege must guide the finder of fact or trier of law at any administrative proceeding or court action initiated by the department.

       
       

    3. "Operator" means any onsite person ultimately responsible for the overall operation of a child-placing agency, family foster home, or residential child-caring agency, whether or not she or he is the owner or administrator of such an agency or home.

       
       

    4. "Owner" means the person who is licensed to operate . . . family foster home. . . .

13. Rule 65C-13.009, Florida Administrative Code, provides in pertinent part:

    Parent Preparation and Mutual Selection.

    
    

    1. Philosophy and Rationale. In January 1989 the department adopted the MAPP Group Preparation and Selection program for use in the preparation and selection of prospective shelter, foster and adoptive parents. The program provides a structured format through which prospective parents can be prepared to work with department staff as team members in permanency planning. This program was developed by the Child Welfare Institute and predicated on the beliefs that shelter, foster and adoptive parents need to be prepared prior to the placement of children in their homes and that they need to be prepared to work as partners in permanency planning.

       
       

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       1. Requirements for Prospective Parents. Prospective parents must:

          
          

          1. Attend ten meetings, a minimum of 30 hours, of pre-service training. Families may not miss more than two sessions. Under only rare circumstances can they miss meeting three or four. If these specific meetings are missed, the family must make up the sessions and demonstrate an understanding of the material. In situations where an individual foster home study is completed, the prospective foster parent must demonstrate an understanding of the pre-service materials and handouts.

             
             

          2. Complete a family portfolio.

             
             

          3. Sign an application for license.

             
             

          4. Sign a confidentiality statement.

          5. Meet minimum standards for shelter and foster family care as found in Administrative Chapter 65C-13, F.A.C., and department policy.

       
       

14. Rule 65C-13.011, Florida Administrative Code, provides in pertinent part:

    Section 409.175(11)(a)2., F.S., makes it unlawful for any person to make a willful or intentional misstatement on any license application or other document required to be filed in connection with an application for a license. Such a violation is a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in Section

    775.082 or 775.083, F.S. Applicants who make such willful or intentional misstatements will have their license denied or revoked. . . .

    
    

15. Section 409.175(9)(b)1., Florida Statutes, authorizes Respondent to deny, suspend, or revoke a license for an intentional or negligent act materially affecting the health or safety of children in the home.

16. Petitioner seeks a family foster home license for the first time. As the party asserting the affirmative of an issue before this administrative tribunal, she bears the burden of proof. Florida Department of Transportation v. J.W.C. Company,

    396 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). The license Petitioner seeks is not a professional license and does not create a property right. § 409.175(2)(f), Fla. Stat. Therefore, Petitioner must establish facts by a preponderance of evidence

    to establish entitlement to the license. Department of Banking and Finance v. Osborne Stern & Co., 670 So. 2d 932, 934 (Fla.

    1996).

    
    

17. Petitioner has not met her burden to prove facts sufficient to establish entitlement to the license she seeks. Throughout the MAPP process she was dishonest with Respondent. Petitioner’s lack of transportation; her inability to briefly advance the costs necessary to provide for a foster child's basic living expenses; and her recent history of evictions each demonstrate that she lacks the financial stability and responsibility which foster parents must have.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, it is

RECOMMENDED that Petitioner's application for a family foster home license be denied.

DONE AND ENTERED this 1st day of September, 2006, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

S

FLORENCE SNYDER RIVAS

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060

(850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675

Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 1st day of September, 2006.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Karen Goddard, Esquire

Department of Children and Family Services

111 South Sapodilla Avenue, Suite 201 West Palm Beach, Florida 33401

Marva M. Lewis

Post Office Box 530686

West Palm Beach, Florida 33422

Gregory D. Venz, Agency Clerk

Department of Children and Family Services Building 2, Room 204B

1317 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0700

John Copelan, General Counsel

Department of Children and Family Services Building 2, Room 204

1317 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0700

Luci D. Hadi, Secretary

Department of Children and Family Services Building 1, Room 202

1317 Winewood Boulevard

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0700

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within

15 days from the date of this Recommended Order. Any exceptions to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency that will issue the final order in this case.

Docket for Case No: 06-000949

Orders for Case No: 06-000949