A.P. v. Department of Children & Families

The Secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCF) entered a final order denying Appellant A.P. an exemption from a criminal disqualification from work in a position of trust under section 435.07, Florida Statutes (2016). Appellant raises three arguments on appeal. We will address two, agreeing with Appellant that (1) the Secretary abused his discretion by adopting and then apparently disregarding the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) factual findings to conclude that an exemption should be denied, and (2) the Secretary failed to provide an adequate rationale for rejecting…