01-004259 Mattie Crawford, D/B/A Friendship Haven vs. Department Of Children And Family Services Status: Closed Recommended Order on Wednesday, February 13, 2002.

Summary: Petitioner not entitled to a license for a group home; her factory-built home is a mobile home, which is prohibited from serving as a group home.

STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

MATTIE CRAWFORD, d/b/a )

FRIENDSHIP HAVEN, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) Case No. 01 - 425 9

)

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND )

FAMILY SERVICES, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

A formal hearing was held in this case on January 11, 2002,

in Gainesville, Florida, before the Division of Administrative

Hearings by its Administrative Law Judge, Suzanne F. Hood.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Samuel Mutch, E squire

Mutch & Brigham, P.A.

2114 Northwest 40th Terrace

Gainesville, Florida 32605

For Respondent: Lucy Goddard, Esquire

Department of Children and

Family Services

Post Office Box 390, Mail Stop 3

Gainesville, Florida 32602

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

Whether Respondent properly denied Petitioner a standard

developmental disability group home license because her facility

is a "mobile home" as defined in Section 320.01(2), Florida

Statutes.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By letter dated September 18, 2001, Respondent Department

of Children and Family Services (Respondent) advised Petitioner

Mattie Crawford d/b/a Friendship Haven (Petitioner) that her

application for a standard developmental disability group home

license was denied. Petitioner requested a formal hearing on

October 18, 2001.

On October 31, 2001, Respondent referred the case to the

Division of Administrative Hearings. A Notice of Hearing dated

November 19, 2001, scheduled the case for formal hearing on

January 11, 2002.

The parties filed a Pre - Hearing Stipulation on January 8,

2002.

Petitioner testified on her own behalf and presented the

testimony of three witnesses. She off ered three exhibits, which

were accepted into evidence.

Respondent presented the testimony of two witnesses.

Respondent offered three exhibits, which were accepted into

evidence.

The parties did not file a copy of the hearing transcript.

Respondent filed its Proposed Recommended Order on January 30,

2002. Petitioner filed her Proposed Recommended Order on

January 31, 2002.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Petitioner decided that she wanted to operate a group

home for developmentally disabled clients. She wan ted to locate

the home on property that she owns at 630 South East 10th

Street, Williston, Florida.

2. Petitioner conferred with Respondent's staff before

deciding whether to construct a site - built home or an off - site

built home on the property. Respon dent's licensing specialist

referred Petitioner to Respondent's fire inspector.

3. Respondent's fire inspector recommended that Petitioner

consider using a Palm Harbor Home with certain improvements to

the windows, floors, and roof. Specifically, the i mprovement

included special strengthened roofing, special strengthened

flooring, wallboard rather than plastic walls, fire alarms and

detectors in every room, as well as wider windows.

4. Petitioner decided to buy a four - bedroom/two - bath unit

with over 2,000 square feet from Palm Harbor Homes. The home

was manufactured by Palm Harbor Homes at its Plant City,

Florida, factory in 2001. Each section of the home had a seal

certifying that it was built in compliance with the Federated

Manufactured Home Cons truction and Safety Standard Act. With

the upgrades that Petitioner requested, the home cost Petitioner

approximately $80,000. The home complies with or exceeds the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

standards.

5. Petitioner too k the house plans and pictures of the

home to Respondent's licensing specialist who approved the home.

The supervisor of the licensing specialist concurred because he

was under the impression that the home was a "Jim Walter - type"

modular home that met the criteria for group homes.

6. Petitioner's fire inspector also approved the home.

The fire inspector concluded that the home meets the high

standards of the 2001 Fire Protection Code.

7. In the meantime, Petitioner followed through with

completing t he paperwork for her application. Petitioner, with

the help of Respondent's staff, proceeded to develop the

required budget and paperwork for a Medicaid waiver.

8. Petitioner's licensing specialist and fire inspector

approved Petitioner's home, finding that it was suitable as a

group home. Respondent granted Petitioner a conditional license

on June 1, 2001. This license allowed Petitioner to operate for

six months. In July 2001, Petitioner's first client moved in

the home. Petitioner received severa l more client referrals.

9. In September 2001, a second licensing specialist

inspected Petitioner's group home. The second licensing

specialist, who was not involved in issuing Petitioner's

conditional license, conducted the routine inspection in

anticip ation of Petitioner receiving a standard developmentally

disabled group home license. The licensing specialist concluded

that the home was in fact a "mobile home," which cannot qualify

as an approved structure for a group home.

10. The licensing special ist took pictures of the home and

of the State of Florida Installation Certification Label

attached to the home. This label certifies as follows:

[T]hat the installation of this mobile home

to be in accordance with Florida Statutes

320.8249, 320.8325 an d Rules of Highway

Safety and Motor Vehicles, Bureau of Mobile

Home and Recreational Vehicle Construction.

11. Respondent's staff sought clarification from

Respondent's headquarters regarding the status of Petitioner's

home. By letter dated September 18, 2001, Respondent advised

Petitioner that "mobile homes" as defined by Section 320.01(2),

Florida Statutes, shall not be used for group home facilities.

12. Respondent did not issue a standard license to the

Petitioner. Petitioner's home, although a ver y high quality

"manufactured home," still is a type of mobile home under

Section 320.01(2), Florida Statutes. Petitioner's home meets

all other licensing standards for developmental disability group

homes except for the standard at issue in this case.

1 3. On or about December 20, 2001, Respondent's district

office staff requested a one - year waiver for Petitioner's group

home. The written request indicates that Respondent's staff

intended to seek a waiver for this home annually until a

proposed rule allo wing licensing of manufactured homes was

promulgated.

14. Respondent granted Petitioner the waiver on or about

January 8, 2001. The waiver is valid through the 2002 licensure

period. However, there is no guarantee that the Department

headquarters will always grant the waiver.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

15. The Division of Administrative Hearings has

jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties pursuant to

Sections 120.569 and 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

16. The Petitioner has the burden of proving by a

preponderance of evidence that her group home facility is not a

"mobile home" as defined in Section 320.01(2), Florida Statutes,

and therefore, is not precluded from licensure by Rule

65B - 6.010(6), Florida Administrative Code. Department of

Tran sportation v. J.W.C., Inc. , 396 So. 2d 778 (Fla. 1st DCA

1981).

17. Rule 65B - 6.010(6), Florida Administrative Code,

states, in pertinent part as follows:

(6) Facility and Site Requirements.

(a) The facility shall be located,

equipped, and designed to assure safe care

and supervision for all clients to enable

them to utilize the surrounding community

resources necessary to meet their needs.

Mobile homes, as defined by Section

320.01(2), Florida Statutes, shall not be

utilized for group home faciliti es.

18. Sections 320.01(2)(a) and 320.01(b), Florida Statutes,

state as follows:

(2)(a) "Mobile home" means a structure,

transportable in one or more sections, which

is 8 body feet or more in width and which is

built on an integral chassis and design ed to

be used as a dwelling when connected to the

required utilities and includes the

plumbing, heating, air - conditioning, and

electrical systems contained therein. For

tax purposes, the length of a mobile home is

the distance from the exterior of the wal l

nearest to the drawbar and coupling

mechanism to the exterior of the wall at the

opposite end of the home where such walls

enclose living or other interior space.

Such distance includes expandable rooms, but

excludes bay windows, porches, drawbars,

coup lings, hitches, wall and roof

extensions, or other attachments that do not

enclose interior space. In the event that

the mobile home owner has no proof of the

length of the drawbar, coupling, or hitch,

then the tax collector may in his or her

discretion e ither inspect the home to

determine the actual length or may assume

4 feet to be the length of the drawbar,

coupling, or hitch.

(b) "Manufactured home" means a mobile home

fabricated on or after June 15, 1976, in an

offsite manufacturing facility for

installation or assembly at the building

site, with each section bearing a seal

certifying that it is built in compliance

with the federal Manufactured Home

Construction and Safety Standard Act.

19. Petitioner's group home is a "manufactured home" as

d efined by Section 320.01(2)(b), Florida Statutes, because it

meets or exceeds the standards set forth in the definition.

20. Although the Petitioner's "manufactured home" meets

higher standards, it is still a "mobile home" as defined in

Section 320.01(2), Florida Statutes.

21. The Department properly applied Rule 65B - 6.010(6),

Florida Administrative Code, when it ruled that Petitioner could

not be issued a standard developmental disability group home

license for her "manufactured home" because it is a ty pe of

"mobile home" as defined in Section 320.01(2), Florida Statutes.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions

of Law, it is

RECOMMENDED:

That Respondent enter a final order denying Petitioner a

standard developmental d isability group home license.

DONE AND ENTERED this 12th day of February, 2002, in

Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

___________________________________

SUZANNE F. HOOD

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings

The DeSoto Build ing

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 3060

(850) 488 - 9675 SUNCOM 278 - 9675

Fax Filing (850) 921 - 6847

www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the

Division of Administrative Hearings

this 12th day of February, 2002.

COPIES FURNISHED :

Samuel Mutch, Esquire

Mutch & Brigham, P.A.

2114 Northwest 40th Terrace

Gainesville, Florida 32605

Lucy Goddard, Esquire

Department of Children and

Family Services

Post Office Box 390, Mail Stop 3

Gainesville, Florida 32602

Peggy Sanford, Agency C lerk

Department of Children and

Family Services

1317 Winewood Boulevard

Building 2, Room 204B

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 0700

Josie Tomayo, General Counsel

Department of Children and

Family Services

1317 Winewood Boulevard

Building 2, Room 204

Tall ahassee, Florida 32399 - 0700

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within

15 days from the date of this Recommended Order. Any exceptions

to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency th at

will issue the final order in this case.