## Facts

- The Florida Department of Children and Family Services petitioned under § 415.1051(1), Florida Statutes (Adult Protective Services Act), seeking court-ordered protective services for Jo Lynn McKim, including placement in a 24-hour care facility.
- McKim, age 39, was alleged to be self-neglecting and unable to care for herself without protective intervention.
- Evidence showed McKim had difficulty walking and required help with dressing, bathing, grooming, and toileting.
- McKim had episodes involving hospitalization, alcohol abuse, falls with inability to get up, weakness, failure to eat, dehydration, incontinence, skin breakdown, and confusion.
- She had potassium deficiency and hypothyroidism, required multiple prescriptions, and was unwilling or unable to manage medications as prescribed.
- McKim was found at home covered in feces after not eating or drinking for multiple days, leading to hospitalization.
- The Department alleged cognitive impairment affecting memory, attention, concentration, insight, and judgment, preventing informed decisions regarding her care.
- At an evidentiary hearing, the Department presented testimony from McKim’s father, her physician, and a hospital social worker; the evidence supported a need for 24-hour care and that returning home was unsafe.
- The trial court found by clear and convincing evidence that McKim was a vulnerable adult in need of services and lacked capacity to consent, but denied the petition on the ground that the statute did not authorize the requested involuntary placement and services.
- The Department appealed the denial.

## Issues

1. Whether § 415.1051(1), Florida Statutes, authorized a court to order involuntary adult protective services and 24-hour facility placement for a vulnerable adult who lacks capacity to consent, based solely on an Adult Protective Services Act petition.

## Decision

- The First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of the petition.
- The court held that § 415.1051(1) did not provide statutory authority for the involuntary protective services and 24-hour placement the Department sought.
- The court left undisturbed the trial court’s factual findings that McKim was a vulnerable adult and lacked capacity to consent.

## Legal Principles

- Courts may order restrictive interventions affecting an adult’s liberty only when the governing statute clearly authorizes the specific relief requested.
- § 415.1051(1), Florida Statutes, as construed, provides limited authority and does not itself authorize broad, ongoing involuntary custodial placement in a care facility.
- When long-term or custodial placement is sought for an adult lacking capacity, the proper vehicle is generally a different statutory framework (such as guardianship or other involuntary placement statutes), not solely an Adult Protective Services Act petition.

## Conclusion

Even where the Department proves by clear and convincing evidence that an adult is vulnerable, needs services, and lacks capacity to consent, § 415.1051(1) does not authorize a court to order involuntary 24-hour facility placement and related protective services; the denial of such relief was therefore affirmed.


Fla. Dep't of Child. & Fams. Servs. v. McKim, 869 So. 2d 760 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004)