In re F.A.

In a dispute arising out of the removal of a child from her foster family and placement with another foster family, based on the Social Services Agency’s (SSA) mistaken belief in exigent circumstances requiring removal, the trial court’s judgment in favor of the second foster family is affirmed where the court did abuse its discretion under the difficult circumstances presented. Although what happened to the first foster family was wrong, and could have been prevented had regulations and policies been in place allowing the foster parents to promptly challenge the grounds for removal before SSA placed the child with another couple, the court declines to offer guidance on how to avoid similar occurrences in the future, as any guidance would amount to an advisory opinion and would potentially violate the separation of powers doctrine.