Florida Child Dependency Attorney
If the state has removed or is about to remove your children from your home you need to take immediate action to avoid long-term, possibly permanent loss of your parental rights and child custody and see that your family is protected. Under child dependency laws you are entitled to shelter review within forty-eight hours. Typically a hearing is held the next day after removal. At that time the judge will determine whether there is probable cause to suspect abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Contact my New Port Richey law firm to make arrangements for a free telephone consultation about your situation.
I have twenty-two years of experience in custody issues, including several years as a senior attorney with the Department of Children and Families (DCF), formerly known as the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Services (HRS). I have extensive experience with shelter hearings, case plans, and judicial review. I may recommend that a client challenge the removal, or will work closely with the case workers, guardians ad litem, and judges involved in removal hearings to craft voluntary placement agreements where children stay in their homes or are placed with relatives in Florida or in another state.
If a child has been removed and after twelve months has not been returned to the custody of the parent because of non-compliance with the case plan the court will determine a permanency plan with a goal of long-term placement with a relative, termination of parental rights, or an extension of the case plan. It is extremely important if your child has been removed from your custody that you work closely with your lawyer to see that your family is reunited as quickly as possible. I help my clients find family counseling, work with them on delinquency and truancy issues, and help them prepare for child dependency hearings so they are best prepared to re-establish their parental rights.
Gary A. Urso
7702 Massachusetts Avenue
New Port Richey, FL 34653
Phone: 727-847-7808
Toll-free: 866-771-7808
Fax: 727-847-6621
Free Initial Telephone Consultation
Family law attorney Gary A. Urso assists clients in New Port Richey, St. Petersburg, Brooksville, Dade City, Spring Hill, Zephyr Hills, Tarpon Springs, Holiday, Palm Harbor, Clearwater, and Port Richey; and in Pasco County, Pinellas County, Hernando County, and other communities throughout the Tampa Bay area and the West Coast of Florida with divorce, custody, child dependency, mediation, domestic violence, and other domestic law issues.