Background
S.C.T.A., the paternal grandmother of six-year-old I.D.T.M., sought to adopt him after his parents’ rights were terminated and he was placed with paternal relatives in Florida. The Department of Children and Families later moved him to nonrelative foster care. Both the grandmother and the caregivers applied to adopt him.
Although the Adoption Applicant Review Committee found the grandmother fit, it recommended approval of the nonrelative caregivers’ application. The Department denied the grandmother’s application in July 2025. She sought circuit-court review under section 39.812(4)(b), arguing that the Department used an obsolete administrative rule and failed to consider her relative status. The circuit court denied review and rehearing. Before her appellate deadline expired, the caregivers’ adoption was finalized without notice to her; she separately sought to vacate that adoption in circuit court.
The Court’s Holding
The Third District denied the Department’s and guardian ad litem’s motions to dismiss the grandmother’s appeal. The finalized adoption did not make the appeal moot because a parallel proceeding seeking to nullify the adoption remained pending. In any event, the grandmother’s allegations supported an exception to mootness: she raised colorable claims concerning the Department’s compliance with governing adoption policies, due process, notice, and her loss of any opportunity for visitation.
The court also rejected the contention that section 39.812 terminated the grandmother’s standing to appeal once the circuit court entered its order. Construing the statute consistently with Florida’s constitutional right to appellate review of final trial-court orders, the court held that the evidentiary review below did not compromise its jurisdiction. Section 63.182(1), which limits actions to nullify adoption judgments, did not apply because this appeal challenges the order denying review of the Department’s adoption-application decision, not the adoption judgment itself. The court imposed expedited briefing.
Key Takeaways
- A completed adoption does not automatically moot a related appeal when effective relief may remain available or a mootness exception applies.
- A denied adoption applicant may appeal an evidentiary circuit-court ruling under section 39.812 despite statutory language ending standing upon entry of that order.
- Section 63.182(1) does not bar an appeal challenging an adoption-review order rather than the adoption judgment.
Why It Matters
The decision preserves appellate review of a relative’s challenge to the Department’s denial of an adoption application even when a competing adoption is finalized during the appeal period. It also emphasizes that agency decisions must be assessed under the law in effect when the final decision is made, while recognizing the dependency system’s strong interest in prompt permanency.