Senate Bill 0062c1

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    Florida Senate - 1998                             CS for SB 62

    By the Committee on Ways and Means and Senator Diaz-Balart





    301-1916A-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act for the relief of Joseph Bellamy Farver;

  3         providing an appropriation to compensate him

  4         for injuries and damages sustained as a result

  5         of the negligence of the Department of Children

  6         and Family Services, formerly the Department of

  7         Health and Rehabilitative Services; providing

  8         an effective date.

  9

10         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver was born Joseph Bellamy

11  on May 16, 1985, at Broward General Medical Center in Broward

12  County, Florida, and

13         WHEREAS, although Joseph Bellamy was healthy and normal

14  and was seen by pediatricians as he met his normal development

15  goals for the first three to five months of his life, Joseph

16  Bellamy's parents possessed borderline intelligence levels,

17  were emotionally unstable, and could not handle their son, and

18         WHEREAS, it became evident to friends and neighbors of

19  the Bellamy family that Joseph Bellamy was abused, and

20         WHEREAS, between August 1985 and November 1985,

21  twenty-seven phone calls were placed to the State of Florida

22  Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services regarding

23  Joseph Bellamy, and on all occasions the Department of Health

24  and Rehabilitative Services failed to protect Joseph Bellamy

25  from child abuse, as was their duty and responsibility, and

26         WHEREAS, on October 22, 1985, the Department of Health

27  and Rehabilitative Services received a telephone call

28  informing them that Joseph Bellamy had been slapped, hit,

29  picked up by one arm, and thrown across a bed, and

30         WHEREAS, in response to the call, the Department of

31  Health and Rehabilitative Services did nothing, and

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    Florida Senate - 1998                             CS for SB 62
    301-1916A-98




  1         WHEREAS, the rules and regulations of the former

  2  Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services required the

  3  department to conduct a home visit pursuant to such a call and

  4  that the child be seen within 24 hours of the receipt of a

  5  telephone call by the department alleging child abuse, and

  6         WHEREAS, on November 6, 1985, Joseph Bellamy was

  7  admitted to Broward General Medical Center with bruises all

  8  over his body, having been shaken, having been brain-damaged

  9  to the point where he had retinal hemorrhages, hemorrhages in

10  his eyes, a brain hemorrhage, and being in a coma as a result

11  of physical abuse inflicted by his parents, and

12         WHEREAS, the former Department of Health and

13  Rehabilitative Services knew or should have known that such

14  injuries would occur to Joseph Bellamy because they received

15  telephone calls from friends and relatives of Joseph Bellamy,

16  including Joseph Bellamy's grandparents, informing the

17  department that "the parents were retarded," and

18         WHEREAS, it is clear that the former Department of

19  Health and Rehabilitative Services, its investigators, and its

20  counselors should have performed their duty by removing Joseph

21  Bellamy from the Bellamy home, thus protecting Joseph Bellamy

22  from abuse, beatings, and brain damage, and

23         WHEREAS, had Joseph Bellamy been taken into protective

24  custody, the terrible physical problems from which he now

25  suffers would never have occurred, and

26         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver will suffer severe

27  neurological medical conditions for the remainder of his life,

28  as well as other irreversible and permanent medical

29  conditions, and

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    Florida Senate - 1998                             CS for SB 62
    301-1916A-98




  1         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has bilateral subdural

  2  hematomas, left parietal intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and

  3  subarachnoid hemorrhages, and

  4         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has a communicating

  5  hydrocephalus with a post right ventricular peritoneal shunt,

  6  and

  7         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has a seizure disorder,

  8  secondary to his head injury, and

  9         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver has multiple

10  contractures of his heel cords, his hamstrings, his hips, and

11  his elbows, and

12         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver is profoundly retarded

13  but capable of interacting and showing emotions and responses,

14  and

15         WHEREAS, the number of seizures which Joseph Bellamy

16  Farver experiences are increasing, and

17         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver takes 30-milligram

18  tablets of phenobarbital five times a day for his seizures,

19  and

20         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver takes 2 milligrams of

21  valium for assistance in sleeping, and

22         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver also takes 125

23  milligrams of valporic acid four times a day, and

24         WHEREAS, Joseph Bellamy Farver receives physical

25  therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy on a daily

26  basis at school, and is seen on a routine basis by a

27  pediatrician, a neurologist, an orthopedist, and a

28  neurosurgeon, and

29         WHEREAS, following the final incident of abuse against

30  Joseph Bellamy, Joseph Bellamy became a ward of the State of

31  Florida, and

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    Florida Senate - 1998                             CS for SB 62
    301-1916A-98




  1         WHEREAS, in 1993, Joseph Bellamy was adopted by Jeffrey

  2  and Helen Farver, who reside in Panama City, and

  3         WHEREAS, his adoptive parents care for him in his

  4  present condition, which requires that they tend to his every

  5  need, which is a full-time undertaking and requires more

  6  resources than they can afford, and

  7         WHEREAS, a lawsuit was brought against the State of

  8  Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services on

  9  behalf of Joseph Bellamy Farver by his court-appointed

10  guardian ad litem, and

11         WHEREAS, after a lengthy jury trial, the jury found the

12  Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services liable for

13  Joseph Bellamy Farver's injuries and awarded him damages in

14  the amount of $7,000,000, and

15         WHEREAS, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative

16  Services did not appeal the verdict, and has paid $100,000

17  pursuant to the statutory limits of liability set forth in

18  section 768.28, Florida Statutes, NOW, THEREFORE,

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20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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22         Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this

23  act are found and declared to be true.

24         Section 2.  The Comptroller is directed to draw a

25  warrant in the amount of $4,500,000 from the State Treasury in

26  favor of Joseph Bellamy Farver, for injuries and damages

27  sustained.

28         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                             CS for SB 62
    301-1916A-98




  1          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
  2                              SB 62

  3

  4  Increases the amount of the award from $3,000,000 to
    $4,500,000.  The funds are to be drawn from the State Treasury
  5  in lieu of the unspent trust fund balances of the Department
    of Children and Family Services.
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