T.O. v. L.S.

The trial court found that T.O. had abandoned her child O.H. to the child’s grandmother’s care, a finding the evidence supports, in my view. But we have made clear that termination of parental rights is not justified even if abandonment is proven, unless the evidence also shows, and the trial court also finds, that termination is in the child’s best interests.

Full and accurate fact finding is essential not only on the question whether DCFS has authority to terminate parental rights but also on the question whether it is in the child’s best interests to do so. See § 39.809(5), Fla. Stat.…