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Guest
State spent $196M in a decade to settle suits
BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/254146.html
TALLAHASSEE --
State spent $196M in a decade to settle suits
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/254146.html
Florida has spent nearly $200 million over the past 10 years to quietly
settle lawsuits for everything from employment discrimination to sexual
harassment to state employees turning a blind eye to child abuse.
And with few exceptions, nearly all of it has taken place out of the eye
of the public, and with scant oversight from lawmakers responsible for
spending taxpayer money.
The biggest payouts have come on behalf of Florida's child-welfare
agency, the Department of Children & Families, to compensate children
who have been beaten, abused or sexually assaulted while in state custody.
The most expensive payout: nearly $14 million for the 20 victims of
Nellie Johnson, a Gainesville foster parent sentenced four years ago to
60 years in prison for beating children in her care between 1991 and
2001. She hit them with pipes and boards, force-fed them until they
vomited and beat one boy so badly doctors had to remove a testicle.
Despite Johnson's conviction in 2003, the state fought the lawsuit
brought by the injured children -- until late last year, when DCF agreed
to a series of settlements amounting to $13.8 million.
''We could delay another three years to where these children who are
victims of crime would not receive anything,'' said DCF Secretary Bob
Butterworth, who has moved aggressively to settle the Johnson case and
others since he took office in January. ``That's just not the right
thing to do.''
A review of 10 years' worth of records maintained by the state Division
of Risk Management shows that Florida has paid $196.2 million to settle
lawsuits. The payments range from relatively small settlements for
damages caused by malfunctioning parking gates to larger ones to settle
sex, race and age discrimination lawsuits filed by job applicants or
state employees.
During the past decade no department has paid as much to settle lawsuits
as the state's child welfare agency. In 10 years, the state has paid $73
million to resolve lawsuits involving DCF. And since January, DCF and
the state's Division of Risk Management have settled 29 cases totaling
$16 million.
All the cases were filed before Butterworth took office. But
Butterworth, a former judge and state attorney general, said he directed
his legal office to review all outstanding lawsuits to see ``if we had
absolute losers here because the person is going to jail.''
''We are trying to do what is in the best interest of the children,''
Butterworth said.
Those who have repeatedly warned about shortcomings in Florida's safety
net for children over the years say the steady stream of litigation
should be a wake-up call.
''What's been going on in our foster care system for far too long is
that the children are not being kept safe,'' said Karen Gievers, a
Tallahassee attorney representing five children to whom the state agreed
to pay $1.2 million. The five were sexually assaulted by a Merritt
Island foster parent who was allowed to adopt the children. The lawsuit,
settled in August, lambasted DCF for allowing Robert Howard, now
awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, to adopt the children even though
the state had shut down his foster home.
Dozens of other cases settled by DCF are similar. Last month the agency
agreed to pay $1.4 million to a child who was placed in an overcrowded
foster home where she was repeatedly sexually abused by two older foster
children.
State Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat, said he is glad
Butterworth is trying to settle the lingering cases. But he said he
questions whether the department is doing enough to track and prevent
abuse against children in state custody.
''I want to know whether this reveals the quality of the care,'' said
Gelber, who has sent a listing of recent DCF settlements to the GOP
lawmakers who oversee the agency.
A review of state records shows that all state agencies and Florida's 11
public universities are routinely paying out thousands, if not hundreds
of thousands of dollars, to resolve lawsuits or disputes that haven't
even made it to court. Some of the lawsuits have been publicized, but
usually the settlements are reached quietly.
Among the cases:
• The Agency for Persons with Disabilities agreed this summer to pay
$300,000 to the family of Franklin Weekley, an 18-year-old who
disappeared in 2002 from a state-run home for the disabled. Nearly two
years after he vanished his bones were discovered by a contractor
tearing down an old boiler room at the Marianna facility.
• The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles settled a
long-running dispute over Florida Highway Patrol troopers' use of force
against an Opa-locka man when they raided his apartment in 1998. The
state agreed last year to pay $475,000 to settle a federal civil rights
lawsuit in which Kenrick Christopher said the incident left him
partially disabled.
• The Department of Corrections agreed in July to pay $1.3 million,
including $500,000 for attorney fees, to 13 nurses who said the
department did nothing to protect them from sexual harassment by prison
inmates at Washington Correctional Institution in Chipley.
• Florida International University paid $75,000 to a woman who was
sexually assaulted in 2005 by an FIU police officer. The officer,
Frederick Currie, was convicted in January 2006 and sentenced to 10
years in prison.
''It's a terrible thing that happened to her, and I'm embarrassed that
one of our officers would have been found guilty of such actions,'' said
FIU President Modesto ''Mitch'' Maidique.
The settlements authorized by the Division of Risk Management don't need
approval from the Legislature. That's because the state routinely set
asides millions in the state budget to pay claims. Top legislators in
both the House and Senate routinely get official notices of large
settlements, but the grand total has surprised lawmakers.
When told Florida had paid more than $68 million in settlements in the
past three years, House Speaker Marco Rubio said he was unaware of it.
Some of the settlements reached by the state sidestep Florida's
sovereign immunity laws, which cap damages at $200,000 per incident.
That's because in the past few years attorneys have chosen to file civil
rights violations lawsuits in federal court, where the immunity doesn't
apply.
State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, whose department oversees the
risk-management office, said the millions spent resolving lawsuits shows
that the state needs to do a better job at figuring how to prevent
future litigation.
''This is big money,'' Sink said. ``The division is very efficient and
it's well run, but it's very reactive. We need to be more proactive.''
Miami Herald staff writers Mary Ellen Klas and Marc Caputo contributed
to this report.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@MiamiHerald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/254146.html
TALLAHASSEE --
State spent $196M in a decade to settle suits
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/254146.html
Florida has spent nearly $200 million over the past 10 years to quietly
settle lawsuits for everything from employment discrimination to sexual
harassment to state employees turning a blind eye to child abuse.
And with few exceptions, nearly all of it has taken place out of the eye
of the public, and with scant oversight from lawmakers responsible for
spending taxpayer money.
The biggest payouts have come on behalf of Florida's child-welfare
agency, the Department of Children & Families, to compensate children
who have been beaten, abused or sexually assaulted while in state custody.
The most expensive payout: nearly $14 million for the 20 victims of
Nellie Johnson, a Gainesville foster parent sentenced four years ago to
60 years in prison for beating children in her care between 1991 and
2001. She hit them with pipes and boards, force-fed them until they
vomited and beat one boy so badly doctors had to remove a testicle.
Despite Johnson's conviction in 2003, the state fought the lawsuit
brought by the injured children -- until late last year, when DCF agreed
to a series of settlements amounting to $13.8 million.
''We could delay another three years to where these children who are
victims of crime would not receive anything,'' said DCF Secretary Bob
Butterworth, who has moved aggressively to settle the Johnson case and
others since he took office in January. ``That's just not the right
thing to do.''
A review of 10 years' worth of records maintained by the state Division
of Risk Management shows that Florida has paid $196.2 million to settle
lawsuits. The payments range from relatively small settlements for
damages caused by malfunctioning parking gates to larger ones to settle
sex, race and age discrimination lawsuits filed by job applicants or
state employees.
During the past decade no department has paid as much to settle lawsuits
as the state's child welfare agency. In 10 years, the state has paid $73
million to resolve lawsuits involving DCF. And since January, DCF and
the state's Division of Risk Management have settled 29 cases totaling
$16 million.
All the cases were filed before Butterworth took office. But
Butterworth, a former judge and state attorney general, said he directed
his legal office to review all outstanding lawsuits to see ``if we had
absolute losers here because the person is going to jail.''
''We are trying to do what is in the best interest of the children,''
Butterworth said.
Those who have repeatedly warned about shortcomings in Florida's safety
net for children over the years say the steady stream of litigation
should be a wake-up call.
''What's been going on in our foster care system for far too long is
that the children are not being kept safe,'' said Karen Gievers, a
Tallahassee attorney representing five children to whom the state agreed
to pay $1.2 million. The five were sexually assaulted by a Merritt
Island foster parent who was allowed to adopt the children. The lawsuit,
settled in August, lambasted DCF for allowing Robert Howard, now
awaiting trial on sex abuse charges, to adopt the children even though
the state had shut down his foster home.
Dozens of other cases settled by DCF are similar. Last month the agency
agreed to pay $1.4 million to a child who was placed in an overcrowded
foster home where she was repeatedly sexually abused by two older foster
children.
State Rep. Dan Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat, said he is glad
Butterworth is trying to settle the lingering cases. But he said he
questions whether the department is doing enough to track and prevent
abuse against children in state custody.
''I want to know whether this reveals the quality of the care,'' said
Gelber, who has sent a listing of recent DCF settlements to the GOP
lawmakers who oversee the agency.
A review of state records shows that all state agencies and Florida's 11
public universities are routinely paying out thousands, if not hundreds
of thousands of dollars, to resolve lawsuits or disputes that haven't
even made it to court. Some of the lawsuits have been publicized, but
usually the settlements are reached quietly.
Among the cases:
• The Agency for Persons with Disabilities agreed this summer to pay
$300,000 to the family of Franklin Weekley, an 18-year-old who
disappeared in 2002 from a state-run home for the disabled. Nearly two
years after he vanished his bones were discovered by a contractor
tearing down an old boiler room at the Marianna facility.
• The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles settled a
long-running dispute over Florida Highway Patrol troopers' use of force
against an Opa-locka man when they raided his apartment in 1998. The
state agreed last year to pay $475,000 to settle a federal civil rights
lawsuit in which Kenrick Christopher said the incident left him
partially disabled.
• The Department of Corrections agreed in July to pay $1.3 million,
including $500,000 for attorney fees, to 13 nurses who said the
department did nothing to protect them from sexual harassment by prison
inmates at Washington Correctional Institution in Chipley.
• Florida International University paid $75,000 to a woman who was
sexually assaulted in 2005 by an FIU police officer. The officer,
Frederick Currie, was convicted in January 2006 and sentenced to 10
years in prison.
''It's a terrible thing that happened to her, and I'm embarrassed that
one of our officers would have been found guilty of such actions,'' said
FIU President Modesto ''Mitch'' Maidique.
The settlements authorized by the Division of Risk Management don't need
approval from the Legislature. That's because the state routinely set
asides millions in the state budget to pay claims. Top legislators in
both the House and Senate routinely get official notices of large
settlements, but the grand total has surprised lawmakers.
When told Florida had paid more than $68 million in settlements in the
past three years, House Speaker Marco Rubio said he was unaware of it.
Some of the settlements reached by the state sidestep Florida's
sovereign immunity laws, which cap damages at $200,000 per incident.
That's because in the past few years attorneys have chosen to file civil
rights violations lawsuits in federal court, where the immunity doesn't
apply.
State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, whose department oversees the
risk-management office, said the millions spent resolving lawsuits shows
that the state needs to do a better job at figuring how to prevent
future litigation.
''This is big money,'' Sink said. ``The division is very efficient and
it's well run, but it's very reactive. We need to be more proactive.''
Miami Herald staff writers Mary Ellen Klas and Marc Caputo contributed
to this report.
CURRENTLY CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES VIOLATES MORE CIVIL RIGHTS ON A
DAILY BASIS THEN ALL OTHER AGENCIES COMBINED INCLUDING THE NSA / CIA
WIRETAPPING PROGRAM....
CPS Does not protect children...
It is sickening how many children are subject to abuse, neglect and even
killed at the hands of Child Protective Services.
every parent should read this .pdf from
connecticut dcf watch...
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com/8x11.pdf
http://www.connecticutdcfwatch.com
Number of Cases per 100,000 children in the US
These numbers come from The National Center on
Child Abuse and Neglect in Washington. (NCCAN)
Recent numbers have increased significantly for CPS
Perpetrators of Maltreatment
Physical Abuse CPS 160, Parents 59
Sexual Abuse CPS 112, Parents 13
Neglect CPS 410, Parents 241
Medical Neglect CPS 14 Parents 12
Fatalities CPS 6.4, Parents 1.5
Imagine that, 6.4 children die at the hands of the very agencies that
are supposed to protect them and only 1.5 at the hands of parents per
100,000 children. CPS perpetrates more abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse
and kills more children then parents in the United States. If the
citizens of this country hold CPS to the same standards that they hold
parents too. No judge should ever put another child in the hands of ANY
government agency because CPS nationwide is guilty of more harm and
death than any human being combined. CPS nationwide is guilty of more
human rights violations and deaths of children then the homes from which
they were removed. When are the judges going to wake up and see that
they are sending children to their death and a life of abuse when
children are removed from safe homes based on the mere opinion of a
bunch of social workers.
CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HAPPILY DESTROYING THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT
FAMILIES YEARLY NATIONWIDE AND COMING TO YOU'RE HOME SOON...
BE SURE TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR CANDIDATES STANDS ON THE ISSUE OF
REFORMING OR ABOLISHING CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ("MAKE YOUR CANDIDATES
TAKE A STAND ON THIS ISSUE.") THEN REMEMBER TO VOTE ACCORDINGLY IF THEY
ARE "FAMILY UNFRIENDLY" IN THE NEXT ELECTION...
