EMAS, J.

GrayRobinson, P.A., and Thomasina F. Moore (Tampa), for petitioner Statewide Guardian ad Litem; Stephanie C. Zimmerman, Deputy Director & Statewide Director of Appeals (Bradenton), for petitioner Department of Children and Families.

Susan Meisel Levin, P.A., and Susan Meisel Levin; Alan I. Mishael, P.A., and Alan I. Mishael, for respondents Amaury Alberto and Yanira Cardenas.

Before EMAS, HENDON and BOKOR, JJ.

EMAS, J. INTRODUCTION

The Florida Statewide Guardian ad Litem ("GAL") and the Department of Children and Families ("DCF") petition this court for a writ of certiorari quashing several nonfinal orders compelling the production of certain confidential records in a prior dependency case. We grant the amended petition and quash the orders to the extent those orders, in the absence of an in camera inspection and determination of necessity, overruled objections based on statutory confidentiality under chapter 39 and compelled the production of confidential reports, records or documents.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

Amaury Alberto and Yanira Cardenas ("the Former Parents") were the adoptive parents of four minor children. In late 2018, the minor children were removed from the custody of the Former Parents and a dependency petition was filed. Soon thereafter, DCF filed a petition for termination of parental rights, and the Former Parents executed affidavits surrendering their parental rights to the minor children. On February 6, 2019, following a hearing, the trial court entered a final judgment terminating the Former Parents’ parental rights to the four minor children.

More than a year later, the Former Parents filed, in the civil division of the circuit court, a petition under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.540(b), seeking to set aside the final judgment terminating their parental rights. GAL and DCF moved to dismiss the Former Parents’ petition, asserting inter alia that the Former Parents had no standing to bring the action and that the trial court was without jurisdiction to adjudicate the petition. The motion to dismiss was denied.

The Former Parents then served a request for production, seeking twelve categories of documents which the Former Parents contend were related to the issues raised in their 1.540(b) petition. Contemporaneous with the request for production, the Former Parents sought entry of a "Combined HIPAA Protective Order and a Chapter 39 Confidentiality Order Governing Discovery," which the Former Parents contended was "an effort to proactively anticipate and expedite resolution of blanket objections" to the request for production.

The attorneys ad litem for the minor children objected to the production of the requested documents, asserting Former Parents had no standing and that the items requested were privileged confidential documents under chapter 39, Florida Statutes, as well as State and Federal HIPAA provisions. Subject to those objections, the minor children addressed each of the twelve individual requests for production, indicating they had no objection to the Former Parents having access to records that are "available as a matter of public record to all parties in the termination of parental rights cause of action prior to the entry of the Final Judgment." The minor children objected to the Former Parents receiving or having any access to documents or records that "encompass[ ] any information post termination of parental rights consent and surrender," asserting they are protected as confidential and/or work product. GAL and DCF also objected to the production of the sought-after documents, raising similar standing and confidentiality arguments.

The trial court issued three separate orders relative to the Former Parents’ request for production: (1) overruling any general or blanket objection to the production of records based on chapter 39 confidentiality or HIPAA, and directing that any confidential records being produced shall be maintained as confidential by the parties; (2) ordering the production of certain confidential records and reserving ruling on others; and (3) ordering the production of certain confidential records while sustaining objections to the production of other confidential records. The trial court did not conduct an in camera inspection, nor make any finding of necessity, before overruling objections and compelling the production of certain purportedly confidential records. Instead, it concluded that the production of the records pursuant to these orders would "promote judicial economy and simultaneously ensure protection of all parties."

The instant amended petition for writ of certiorari followed.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

All records held by DCF "concerning reports of child abandonment, abuse, or neglect, ... and all records generated as a result of such reports, shall be kept confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and shall not be disclosed except as specifically authorized by" chapter 39, Florida Statutes. § 39.02(1), Fla. Stat. (2021). Dependency court records are included by the legislature in the narrow category of court records where public access is proscribed or substantially restricted because records in this category involve "specific privacy or government interests that clearly outweigh the public's right to know." In re Amends. to Fla. R. of Jud. Admin. 2.420, 954 So. 2d 16, 20-21 (Fla. 2007) ; see also Natural Parents of J.B. v. Fla. Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 780 So. 2d 6, 9 (Fla. 2001) (upholding constitutionality of statute mandating closure of termination of parental rights hearings, explaining "it is in the best interest of the child to protect the child from publicity in certain proceedings and that this protection outweighs the public's right to access. We do not agree... that in TPR proceedings a presumption of openness is constitutionally required. A presumption that juvenile proceedings be closed to the public is consistent with the history and tradition of the juvenile justice system and furthers the sound and practical purposes of that system.") The confidentiality of the records at issue in such cases must be maintained at all times unless exempt from disclosure as set forth by law. There are some limited statutory exceptions to the nondisclosure of, and non-access to, these confidential records. For example, chapter 39 allows for disclosure of documents to the parent of the child. In addition, a court may order disclosure of confidential records where the court finds "that access to such records may be necessary for the determination of an issue before the court." § 39.202(2)(f). However, importantly, "such access shall be limited to inspection in camera, unless the court determines that public disclosure of the information contained therein is necessary for the resolution of an issue then pending before it." Id.

Although it is within the trial court's discretion to determine the necessity for such access, see Dep't of Health & Rehab. Servs. v. A.N., 604 So. 2d 11 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992), a trial court in the present circumstances generally must conduct an in camera inspection in order to determine whether the party has made a proper showing to warrant granting access to such confidential records. See In re Records of Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 873 So. 2d 506, 514 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (noting that, in evaluating whether there is good cause for the disclosure of confidential documents under a similar law, "there can ordinarily be no ‘logic and justification for the result’ embodied in the trial court's good cause determination if the trial court has not conducted an in camera review of the records at issue.")

Further, the burden is on the party seeking the production of such documents to establish the requisite necessity to gain access to such confidential records. See Sarasota Herald-Tribune v. Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 873 So. 2d 506, 512 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (holding that petitioner, as the party seeking access, shouldered the burden to establish good cause required to access DCF's confidential records under section 39.202); J.B. v. State, 250 So. 3d 829 (Fla. 3d DCA) (explaining that a patient's confidential communications or records made for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of a mental or emotional condition are privileged under section 90.503, Florida Statutes (2017), subject to three statutory exceptions, and the burden is on the person seeking disclosure of the patient's records to demonstrate that one of those exceptions applies).

In the instant case, the trial court did not conduct an in camera inspection, nor make the requisite finding of necessity, prior to overruling objections and compelling production of certain purportedly confidential records. We hold this constitutes a departure from the essential requirements of the law, causing irreparable injury which cannot be adequately remedied on appeal following final judgment. See e.g., D.C. v. J.M., 133 So. 3d 1080 (Fla. 3d DCA 2014) (granting certiorari relief and holding trial court's order departed from the essential requirements of law by allowing foster parents unfettered right to access court files in a dependency proceeding).

CONCLUSION

Accordingly, we grant the petition, issue the writ, and quash the orders to the extent those orders overruled objections based on statutory confidentiality under chapter 39 and—in the absence of an in camera inspection and appropriate showing and determination of necessity—compelled the production of confidential reports, records and documents. We remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.