Bill Amendment: FL S0058 | 2015 | Regular Session

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: Relief of C.M.H. by the Department of Children and Families

Status: 2015-05-01 - Died in Appropriations [S0058 Detail]

Download: Florida-2015-S0058-Senate_Committee_Amendment_359438.html

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       Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 58
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì359438LÎ359438                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Judiciary (Simpson) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete line 110
    4  and insert:
    5         this claim, the remaining funds shall be placed into an
    6  irrevocable trust created for C.M.H. for
    7  
    8  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
    9  And the title is amended as follows:
   10         Delete lines 29 - 99
   11  and insert:
   12         and which C.M.H.’s parents did not receive, and
   13         WHEREAS, the testimony of the DCF caseworker confirms that
   14  DCF was aware that 10-year-old J.W. and C.M.H., who was then 8
   15  years old, were sharing the same bedroom, and
   16         WHEREAS, on October 31, 2002, J.W. sexually assaulted a 4
   17  year-old child who was visiting C.M.H.’s home, and
   18         WHEREAS, although DCF knew that J.W. was a sexual offender,
   19  the agency did not remove him from the home, and
   20         WHEREAS, DCF failed to implement a written safety plan as
   21  required by DCF Operating Procedure 175-88, and
   22         WHEREAS, after November 2002, J.W.’s behavioral problems
   23  escalated, and he deliberately squeezed C.M.H.’s pet mouse to
   24  death in front of C.M.H. and made physical threats toward
   25  C.M.H., and
   26         WHEREAS, C.M.H.’s parents decided to begin the process of
   27  adopting J.W., whom they considered a part of their family, and
   28         WHEREAS, the family subsequently became aware that J.W.
   29  needed significant mental health treatment, including placement
   30  in a residential treatment facility, and
   31         WHEREAS, the family was informed by DCF that they would not
   32  be granted visitation privileges if J.W. was removed from their
   33  home and placed in a residential treatment facility, and
   34         WHEREAS, in January 2004, the family began taking classes
   35  to train to be therapeutic foster parents to better meet J.W.’s
   36  needs, and
   37         WHEREAS, in March 2004, after C.M.H.’s mother was diagnosed
   38  with Stage 4, terminal, metastatic colon cancer, which had
   39  spread to her liver, C.M.H.’s father, contacted DCF to postpone
   40  the adoption, and
   41         WHEREAS, in April 2004, DCF closed out J.W.’s dependency
   42  file, leaving J.W. in the custody of the family without any
   43  subsidies or assistance, and
   44         WHEREAS, in April 2005, C.M.H.’s father wrote DCF and the
   45  juvenile judge assigned to the case to request help in placing
   46  J.W. in a residential treatment facility, however, DCF provided
   47  no assistance, and
   48         WHEREAS, on July 28, 2005, after a physical altercation
   49  between J.W. and C.M.H., C.M.H. disclosed to his parents that
   50  J.W. had sexually assaulted him, and J.W. was immediately
   51  removed from the home, and
   52         WHEREAS, C.M.H. sustained severe and permanent psychiatric
   53  injury, including posttraumatic stress disorder, as a result of
   54  the sexual and emotional abuse perpetrated by J.W., and without
   55  immediate interventions will face a lifetime of dysfunction,
   56  trauma, and tragedy, and
   57         WHEREAS, the sexual assault of C.M.H. by J.W. was
   58  predictable and preventable, and
   59         WHEREAS, on April 14, 2006, a lawsuit, Case No. 2006 CA
   60  003727, was filed in the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm
   61  Beach County on behalf of C.M.H., by and through his parents,
   62  alleging negligence on the part of DCF and its providers which
   63  allowed the perpetration of sexual abuse against and the
   64  victimization of C.M.H. by J.W., and
   65         WHEREAS, DCF aggressively defended and denied the
   66  allegations in the claim and a jury trial was set in Palm Beach
   67  County, and
   68         WHEREAS, on January 2, 2014, after a jury trial and verdict
   69  for $5 million, the court entered a judgment against DCF for
   70  $5,176,543.08, including costs, and
   71         WHEREAS, the Division of Risk Management of the Department
   72  of Financial Services has paid $100,000, as allowed under s.
   73  768.28, Florida Statutes, for costs, less than half of the total
   74  amount of litigation costs expended by plaintiff’s counsel to
   75  litigate this case and to complete the trial, and
   76         WHEREAS, C.M.H., now 21 years of age, is at a vulnerable
   77  stage in his life and urgently needs to recover the balance of
   78  the judgment awarded him so that his psychiatric injuries may be
   79  addressed and he may lead a normal life, and
   80         WHEREAS, the balance of the judgment is to be paid into an
   81  irrevocable trust through the passage of this claim bill in the
   82  amount of $5,076,543.08, NOW, THERFORE,