Senate Bill sb0042

    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 42

    By Senator Campbell





    33-60-01

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act for the relief of the Guardianship of

  3         Kimberly Godwin; providing an appropriation to

  4         compensate her for injuries she sustained as a

  5         result of the negligence of the Department of

  6         Children and Family Services; providing an

  7         effective date.

  8

  9         WHEREAS, Kimberly Godwin is a profoundly retarded young

10  woman who was being cared for in a group home that was

11  licensed and supervised by the Department of Children and

12  Family Services, and

13         WHEREAS, she has the IQ of a young child, is nonverbal,

14  is incontinent, and stands 3 feet 11 inches tall, and

15         WHEREAS, in August 1985, Kimberly Godwin was

16  transferred to the Schenck Group Home in Ft. Pierce, Florida,

17  based on recommendations by the department due to a confirmed

18  abuse report that she was beaten and abused at another

19  facility under the department's supervision, and

20         WHEREAS, the Schenck Group Home was licensed,

21  supervised, and operated by the department and its employees

22  or agents, and

23         WHEREAS, Kimberly Godwin received burns on her upper

24  thigh which were inflicted on her while she was residing at

25  the department's group home in 1989 and the department admits

26  that the burns were caused by its violation of the Bill of

27  Rights for the Developmentally Disabled and by its negligence,

28  and

29         WHEREAS, a Ft. Pierce jury determined that Kimberly

30  Godwin suffered noneconomic damages of $500,000 as a result of

31  that abuse, and

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    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 42
    33-60-01




  1         WHEREAS, from 1990 through 1991, teachers at Kimberly

  2  Godwin's school suspected, due to her missed menstrual cycle

  3  and other signs of abuse, that she was being abused and raped,

  4  and

  5         WHEREAS, the department admits that in September 1991

  6  it violated Kimberly Godwin's rights and that because of its

  7  negligence Kimberly was raped and impregnated by the group

  8  home operator's 16-year-old son, who was not supposed to

  9  reside in the house, and

10         WHEREAS, a Ft. Pierce jury determined that Kimberly

11  Godwin suffered noneconomic damages of $1 million for the

12  sexual battery and impregnation, and

13         WHEREAS, the department has admitted that it violated

14  Kimberly Godwin's rights and was negligent for failing to

15  discover her pregnancy until she was over 20 weeks pregnant,

16  and

17         WHEREAS, Kimberly was denied prompt and appropriate

18  medical care because the department and the group home did not

19  want her pregnancy revealed, and

20         WHEREAS, a Ft. Pierce jury determined that Kimberly

21  Godwin suffered $500,000 in noneconomic damages as a result of

22  this abuse, and

23         WHEREAS, after Kimberly Godwin's pregnancy was known to

24  the department, the department continued her in the care and

25  custody of the same group home and failed to notify her

26  parents of her pregnancy, and

27         WHEREAS, when her parents were notified by a Guardian

28  Ad Litem for Kimberly, her mother, Darlene Godwin, who is now

29  deceased, removed Kimberly from the custody of the

30  department's group home, at which time Kimberly was suffering

31  from pneumonia, anemia, and dehydration as a result of

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    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 42
    33-60-01




  1  continued abuse and neglect and was taken to the hospital by

  2  her mother and was hospitalized, and

  3         WHEREAS, her condition was so poor that the doctors

  4  performed blood transfusions and suspected that she had

  5  leukemia, and

  6         WHEREAS, the department admits that its negligence

  7  caused Kimberly's deteriorating medical condition, and a jury

  8  determined that Kimberly Godwin suffered $1 million in

  9  noneconomic damages as a result of this abuse, and

10         WHEREAS, because of her medical condition, it was

11  determined that Kimberly Godwin could not safely give birth to

12  a child, and a circuit court ordered a therapeutic abortion to

13  protect Kimberly Godwin's life, and

14         WHEREAS, the jury also determined that Kimberly Godwin

15  suffered $5 million in economic damages caused by her rape and

16  impregnation, and

17         WHEREAS, at trial, the jury heard unrefuted testimony

18  that Kimberly Godwin requires extraordinary services, which

19  are not being provided, because of her abuse, and

20         WHEREAS, the jury determined that Kimberly Godwin's

21  abuse has made her incapable of living in a group home

22  environment, thus increasing the cost for her habilitative

23  care over her entire lifetime, estimated to be 51 years, and

24         WHEREAS, Kimberly is residing with her father, Jimmy

25  Godwin, and her family is committed to providing individual

26  home care to ensure her safety, and

27         WHEREAS, on March 28, 2000, a jury awarded the

28  Guardianship of Kimberly Godwin a total of $8 million in

29  damages plus $21,555.30 in costs, and $5 million was awarded

30  for the economic damages and $3 million for her pain and

31

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    Florida Senate - 2001        (NP)                        SB 42
    33-60-01




  1  suffering and abuse that continued from 1989 until her removal

  2  from the department's custody in 1992, and

  3         WHEREAS, on April 12, 2000, the trial court entered a

  4  Final Judgment of $8 million against the Department of

  5  Children and Family Services, and

  6         WHEREAS, on April 19, 2000, the trial judge denied the

  7  department's motions for new trial and remittitur, and the

  8  department did not appeal either the jury's verdict or the

  9  court's order upholding the verdict, NOW, THEREFORE,

10

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

12

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

14  act are found and declared to be true.

15         Section 2.  The sum of $8,021,555.30 is appropriated

16  out of the funds in the State Treasury to the credit of the

17  Department of Children and Family Services to be paid to the

18  Guardianship of Kimberly Godwin, Jimmy Godwin, Guardian.

19         Section 3.  The Comptroller is directed to draw a

20  warrant in favor of the Guardianship of Kimberly Godwin, Jimmy

21  Godwin, Guardian, in the sum of $8,021,555.30 out of funds in

22  the State Treasury to the credit of the Department of Children

23  and Family Services, and the State Treasurer is directed to

24  pay that amount out of those funds.

25         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

26  law.

27

28            *****************************************

29                          SENATE SUMMARY

30    Provides an appropriation for the relief of the
      Guardianship of Kimberly Godwin for injuries and damages
31    she sustained as a result of the negligence of the
      Department of Children and Family Services.
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