Child / Families in Need of Service

The Juvenile Courts in Florida have jurisdiction over Children and Families-in-Need-of-Services (CINS/FINS). Parents can come to see the judge for help and services to improve the behaviors of their child. Local programs help families find ways to reduce or stop their children from runaway, skipping school and disobeying through screening and assessment, planning for improvement, and counseling.

Families in Need of Services (FINS)

A family that has a child for whom there is no pending investigation of abuse, neglect, or abandonment or no court ordered supervision by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Children and Family Services for an adjudication of dependency or delinquency. A family in need of services is defined in Florida Statute Chapter 984.03 (27) and is not an adjudicated status. The child must also have been referred to a contracted agency of the Department of Juvenile Justice for:

  • Running away or threatening to run away from parents or legal guardian or custodian
  • Disobeying the reasonable and lawful demands of parents or legal guardian or custodian and being beyond their control
  • Truancy from school or other school related problems
  • Lockouts/Homeless youth

Child in Need of Services (CINS)

This is an adjudication status for a child for whom there is no pending investigation into an allegation or suspicion of abuse, neglect, or abandonment; no pending referral alleging the child is delinquent; or no current supervision by the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Children and Family Services for an adjudication of dependency or delinquency. The court must also find the child:

  • To have persistently run away from the child's parents or legal custodians despite reasonable efforts of the child, the parents or legal custodians, and appropriate agencies to remedy the conditions contributing to the behavior
  • To be habitually truant from school, while subject to compulsory school attendance, despite reasonable efforts to remedy the situation pursuant to and through voluntary participation by the child's parents or legal custodians and by the child in family counseling services, and treatment offered
  • To have persistently disobeyed the reasonable and lawful demands of the child's parents or legal custodian, and to be beyond their control despite efforts by the child's parents or legal custodians, and appropriate agencies to remedy the conditions contributing to the behavior
  • Lockouts/Homeless youth