H.C., the Mother v. Department of Children and Families
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
Date FiledJuly 2, 2026
Docket3D2025-2336
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed July 2, 2026.
Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.
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No. 3D25-2336
Lower Tribunal No. D24-15134 TP D009
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H.C., the Mother,
Appellant,
vs.
Department of Children and Families, et al.,
Appellees.
An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Michelle
Alvarez Barakat, Judge.
Law Offices of Roger Ally, P.A., and Roger Ally, for appellant.
Karla Perkins, for appellee Department of Children & Families; Sara
Elizabeth Goldfarb, and Stephanie E. Novenario (Tallahassee), for appellee
Guardian ad Litem.
Before FERNANDEZ, MILLER, and LOBREE, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Affirmed. See R.G. v. Dep’t of Child. & Fam. Servs., 792 So. 2d 1269,
1269 (Fla. 3d DCA 2001) (affirming dependency order where “any due
process concerns were never raised before the trial court and are therefore
barred” (citing Hill v. State, 549 So. 2d 179, 182 (Fla. 1989))); J.G. v. Dep’t
of Child. & Fams., 22 So. 3d 774, 776 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009) (“[T]he parents’
claim that their procedural due process rights were violated . . . was raised
for the first time in this appeal, and therefore was not preserved for appellate
review.”); Fla. R. Juv. P. 8.265(b)(4) (“To preserve for appeal a challenge to
the failure of the trial court to make required findings of fact in the final order,
a party must raise that issue in a motion for rehearing under this rule.”);
Scognamillo v. Jamison, 389 So. 3d 624, 625 (Fla. 3d DCA 2023) (“[W]here
an error by the court appears for the first time on the face of a final order, a
party must alert the court of the error via a motion for rehearing or some other
appropriate motion in order to preserve it for appeal.”) (quotation omitted);
Mesa v. State, 431 So. 3d 577, 579 n.1 (Fla. 3d DCA 2026) (declining to
reach the merits of an argument not raised in the initial brief: “[I]ssues not
raised in the initial brief are considered waived or abandoned.”) (quotation
omitted).
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