1

A bill to be entitled

2

An act for the relief of Marissa Amora; providing an

3

appropriation to compensate her, a minor, by and through

4

her legal guardians, Dawn and Rick Amora, for injuries she

5

sustained as a result of the negligence of employees of

6

the Department of Children and Family Services; providing

7

a limitation on the payment of fees and costs; providing

8

an effective date.

9

10

     WHEREAS, on November 8, 2000, Moesha Sylencieux, now known

11

as Marissa Amora, who was not yet 2 years old, was brought to the

12

emergency room of Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Palm Beach

13

County, Florida, and

14

     WHEREAS, her natural mother told the hospital staff that

15

Marissa Amora fell from a standing position and now could not

16

walk, and while she was at the hospital, Marissa Amora could not

17

bear weight on her legs, and

18

     WHEREAS, during a 3-day admission that followed, an MRI

19

showed the presence of an unexplained mass in the area of Marissa

20

Amora's spine, and she was transferred to Miami Children's

21

Hospital for further testing and treatment, and

22

     WHEREAS, the Child Protection Team in Palm Beach County, as

23

well as hospital physicians in Boca Raton and Delray Beach,

24

determined that Marissa Amora's problems were due to injuries

25

caused by physical abuse, and

26

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora was admitted to Miami Children's

27

Hospital on November 11, 2000, arriving with a working diagnosis

28

of "spinal cord tumor," and during the following month she was

29

fully evaluated for the tumor that was presumed to have accounted

30

for her sudden inability to walk, with all test results normal,

31

and

32

     WHEREAS, on December 4, 2000, Marissa Amora underwent a

33

biopsy of the mass, which disclosed that the mass was benign, and

34

     WHEREAS, during Marissa Amora's approximately 1-month

35

admission to Miami Children's Hospital, several incidents gave

36

rise to suspicions concerning Marissa Amora's safety on the part

37

of the hospital nursing staff and social workers, and

38

     WHEREAS, the hospital staff and social workers were

39

concerned about the natural mother's lack of involvement and

40

about the interactions between the child and her natural mother

41

who, over the course of Marissa Amora's hospitalization at Miami

42

Children's Hospital, came to the hospital only four times, and

43

who failed to show up even though hospital social workers

44

provided transportation money and directions, and

45

     WHEREAS, when Marissa Amora's natural mother did come to the

46

hospital, she was observed spanking Marissa Amora by families of

47

other patients while Marissa was in her hospital bed, and

48

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora's natural mother failed to come to

49

the hospital on December 9, 2000, which was the day that her

50

daughter was supposed to be discharged, and

51

     WHEREAS, with Marissa Amora waiting to be discharged, the

52

social workers at the hospital appropriately called the

53

Department of Children and Family Services, whereupon the call

54

was designated as one for "special needs," given the mother's

55

lack of ability or desire to care for her daughter, together with

56

issues concerning a general lack of bonding, and

57

     WHEREAS, the case was assigned to DCF Protective

58

Investigator Shirley Arias in District 11, Miami-Dade County, who

59

began her investigation by going to Miami Children's Hospital on

60

Monday, December 11, 2000, whereupon she began compiling a list

61

of concerns and risk factors that indicated possible physical

62

abuse, and

63

     WHEREAS, Ms. Arias reviewed the hospital records and found

64

that there was evidence that Marissa Amora had an unexplained

65

fracture of her clavicle and that the mother had been assisted

66

and counseled by the social workers at the hospital, but the

67

social workers continued to have serious concerns for the

68

mother's desire and ability to care for her child, and

69

     WHEREAS, Ms. Arias observed that Marissa Amora would cry

70

when her mother walked into her hospital room and then would calm

71

when her mother would leave, and also observed a general lack of

72

bonding between mother and child, and

73

     WHEREAS, on Monday, December 11, 2000, a meeting took place

74

in the hospital between Ms. Arias, the natural mother, and Dr.

75

Jefry Biehler, an in-house director of the Child Advocacy Team

76

who was asked to be involved at the request of the hospital's

77

social workers, and

78

     WHEREAS, Dr. Biehler interviewed the mother in the presence

79

of DCF investigator Arias and reported that he "had concerns"

80

recommending to Ms. Arias that the child should not be given to

81

the mother unless a home study were completed to ensure that the

82

environment in the home was safe for the child, and

83

     WHEREAS, the home study was never performed by DCF, and

84

     WHEREAS, instead of initiating a home study, DCF

85

investigator Arias contacted the Palm Beach County DCF District 9

86

office, whereupon the matter was referred to Protective

87

Investigator Evelyn Diaz Collins, and

88

     WHEREAS, DCF investigator Collins failed to conduct or

89

initiate a home study, and

90

     WHEREAS, Ms. Collins instead went to the family home while

91

Marissa Amora was still in the hospital, met with the natural

92

mother, noting that the apartment was void of any baby items, and

93

subsequently informed the natural mother that she would need to

94

purchase a crib and that Ms. Collins would return the following

95

week to make sure that she did so, and

96

     WHEREAS, Ms. Collins never returned to the home, and did no

97

followup whatsoever, and

98

     WHEREAS, the home study was never completed, yet DCF

99

supervisors in Miami incorrectly believed that a home study was

100

completed, and incorrectly assumed that there was no threat to

101

the child, and

102

     WHEREAS, DCF investigator Arias met with her supervisor, who

103

advised that she should refer the case to the DCF legal

104

department, whereupon Ms. Arias consulted with the DCF legal

105

department on Wednesday, December 13, 2000, and was advised that

106

Marissa Amora should not be allowed to leave Miami Children's

107

Hospital until DCF had completed a home study, spoken with

108

Marissa Amora's natural father in New Jersey, assigned staff to

109

the case from the child protection team, and conducted criminal

110

checks on the appropriate parties, and

111

     WHEREAS, deposition and trial testimony by Ms. Arias

112

revealed she understood that the above items were DCF "marching

113

orders" and that the child should not have been allowed to leave

114

the hospital until all of the tasks were completed, and

115

     WHEREAS, on December 14, 2000, Ms. Arias completed a DCF

116

Initial Child Safety Assessment form, as required by statute,

117

which showed that Ms. Arias and her supervisor concluded that

118

physical abuse was suspected, and

119

     WHEREAS, Ms. Arias testified at trial that Marissa Amora

120

should never have been allowed to go home, that sending her home

121

was wrong, and that Ms. Arias should have voiced her objection to

122

her DCF supervisors, and

123

     WHEREAS, Ms. Arias' immediate DCF supervisor, Robert Boyak,

124

testified under oath that the case should have been assigned to

125

the child protection team before Marissa Amora was allowed to

126

leave the hospital, but that no such referral to the child

127

protection team was completed, and

128

     WHEREAS, on December 14, 2000, Ms. Arias began contacting

129

the natural mother for the purpose of having Marissa Amora picked

130

up from the hospital without having completed a home study,

131

assigned the case to the child protection team, or spoken with

132

Marissa Amora's natural father in New Jersey, all of which were

133

advised by the DCF legal department on December 13, 2000, and

134

     WHEREAS, the DCF log written by DCF investigator Arias

135

reflects numerous contacts throughout the following week from the

136

social workers at Miami Children's Hospital challenging DCF's

137

decision to allow Marissa Amora to go home with her mother, and

138

     WHEREAS, calls placed by the hospital's social workers to

139

the DCF Palm Beach County district office and to supervisors in

140

the chain of command at DCF were not returned, and

141

     WHEREAS, on January 11, 2001, Marissa Amora was again

142

admitted to the hospital's pediatric intensive care unit for

143

treatment for massive brain injuries, leg fractures, arm

144

fractures, and multiple other injuries that the Chief of

145

Pediatric Intensive Care opined were likely due to being swung by

146

her arms and legs and smashed into a wall or the floor, and

147

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora remained in the hospital for several

148

months while undergoing a series of operations, including brain

149

surgery to relieve pressure from her massive brain bleed, a

150

tracheotomy to establish and maintain her ability to breathe, and

151

abdominal surgery to allow for nutrition to pass directly into

152

her stomach due to an inability to eat, and

153

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora has since required multiple other

154

surgeries to address many of the chronic problems caused by her

155

severe brain injury, and continues to require tube feedings

156

because she is unable to eat food by mouth, and

157

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora will require a high level of care

158

throughout the remainder of her life, and

159

     WHEREAS, DCF employees in the Miami-Dade County and the Palm

160

Beach County offices admitted to making critical errors with

161

regard to this case and that department procedures were not

162

followed, and

163

     WHEREAS, as a result of negligence by employees of the

164

Department of Children and Family Services, Marissa Amora has

165

suffered permanent and profound brain damage and will require

166

total care for the remainder of her life, and

167

     WHEREAS, the Life Care Plan for Marissa Amora, as authored

168

by former HRS District 11 Administrator and Certified Life Care

169

Planner Lawrence Forman, M.Ed., has a present value cost of

170

$23,116,052.50, and

171

     WHEREAS, DCF's own experts, Sharon Griffin, M.Ed.,

172

Habilitationist, and Bernard F. Pettingill, Jr., Ph.D.,

173

Economist, developed a Life Care Plan for Marissa Amora, which

174

would cost $19,767,867.00, and

175

     WHEREAS, Marissa Amora's past medical care and expenses,

176

including liens, amount to $355,778.83, and

177

     WHEREAS, a jury determined Marissa Amora's total economic

178

loss in the past and for the future to be $16,537,349.08, and her

179

past and future noneconomic damages, which include disability,

180

loss of enjoyment of life, bodily injury, physical and mental

181

pain and suffering, and disfigurement, to be $10,312,500, NOW,

182

THEREFORE,

183

184

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

185

186

     Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are

187

found and declared to be true.

188

     Section 2. The sum of $26,849,849.08 is appropriated from

189

the Administrative Trust Fund of the Department of Children and

190

Family Services or any successor thereto, or in the event

191

sufficient funds are not available from that fund, from the

192

General Revenue Fund, to be paid to Dawn and Rick Amora as legal

193

guardians of Marissa Amora, to finance the habilitative care of

194

Marissa Amora over the duration of her lifetime and as relief for

195

the violations of her rights and for injuries and damages she

196

sustained as a result of the department's wrongful or negligent

197

conduct.

198

     Section 3. The Chief Financial Officer is directed to

199

execute all necessary agreements to implement the payment of this

200

claim, and to draw a warrant in the amount of $35,133,132 in

201

favor of Dawn and Rick Amora as legal guardians of Marissa Amora,

202

upon funds of the Department of Children and Family Services in

203

the State Treasury, and the Chief Financial Officer is directed

204

to pay the same out of such funds in the State Treasury.

205

     Section 4. This award is intended to provide the sole

206

compensation for all present and future claims arising out of the

207

factual situation described in this act which resulted in injury

208

to Marissa Amora. The total amount paid for attorney's fees,

209

lobbying fees, costs, and other similar expenses relating to this

210

claim may not exceed 25 percent of the amount awarded under this

211

act.

212

     Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.