Florida Senate - 2012                              (NP)    SB 12
       
       
       
       By Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       38-00122-12                                             201212__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act for the relief of Angela Sozzani; requiring
    3         that the Department of Children and Family Services
    4         request up to a certain amount in its annual
    5         legislative budget request each fiscal year to
    6         compensate Angela Sozzani for injuries and damages she
    7         sustained as a result of the negligence of employees
    8         of the department; authorizing the department to
    9         request additional funds under extraordinary
   10         circumstances; providing for the reversion of funds;
   11         providing that Angela Sozzani’s attorneys have
   12         represented her pro bono and that fees and costs have
   13         not been awarded; providing an effective date.
   14  
   15         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani, whose date of birth is April 21,
   16  2000, was in the legal custody of the Department of Children and
   17  Family Services and had been placed in the medical foster home
   18  of Ronald and Joyce Bryson on February 6, 2001, and
   19         WHEREAS, Ronald Bryson and Joyce Bryson were each licensed
   20  by the Department of Children and Family Services to provide
   21  foster care pursuant to s. 409.175, Florida Statutes, and
   22         WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Ronald and Joyce Bryson were
   23  providing foster care to three medically needy foster children
   24  and after-school care to their two special-needs grandchildren,
   25  even though their foster home was licensed by the Department of
   26  Children and Family Services to provide care for only two
   27  children, and
   28         WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Ronald and Joyce Bryson were
   29  hosting a party and allowed their two grandchildren to swim in
   30  their swimming pool without adult supervision, and
   31         WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Angela Sozzani, who was nearly
   32  2 years of age and was not being supervised, wandered out the
   33  open patio door to the pool and fell into the swimming pool,
   34  nearly drowning, and
   35         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani experienced a severe hypoxic
   36  ischemic encephalopathy, secondary to a near drowning, and, as a
   37  result, is forever dependent on receiving 24-hour medical and
   38  supportive care, and
   39         WHEREAS, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Angela Sozzani in
   40  Pinellas County against the Department of Children and Family
   41  Services, Ronald and Joyce Bryson, Family Continuity Program,
   42  Inc., and Help a Child, Inc., and
   43         WEHREAS, Angela Sozzani’s claim against Ronald and Joyce
   44  Bryson is based on each person’s failure to properly supervise
   45  Angela and their failure to follow rules of the Department of
   46  Children and Family Services, and
   47         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani’s claim against Family Continuity
   48  Program, Inc., which was the lead agency in Pinellas County
   49  pursuant to s. 409.1671, Florida Statutes, during the period
   50  that Angela was placed in the Bryson home, is based on the
   51  entity’s failure to comply with rules of the Department of
   52  Children and Family Services, failure to perform monthly home
   53  visits, failure to ensure Angela’s safety in the Bryson foster
   54  home, and failure to report the licensing violations that were
   55  observed in the Bryson foster home, and
   56         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani’s claim against Help a Child, Inc.,
   57  which was the private entity that contracted with the Department
   58  of Children and Family Services to oversee the operation of the
   59  medical foster care program through which the Brysons were
   60  licensed, is based on the entity’s failure to properly oversee
   61  and manage the Bryson foster home, failure to train Ronald and
   62  Joyce Bryson, failure to comply with rules of the Department of
   63  Children and Family Services, and failure to report the
   64  licensing violations that were observed in the Bryson foster
   65  home, and
   66         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani’s claim against the Department of
   67  Children and Family Services is based on the department’s
   68  failure to follow its own operating procedures and guidelines
   69  with respect to the licensure of the Bryson foster home, which
   70  the department knew or should have known would be a dangerous
   71  environment to all children, including Angela Sozzani, and
   72         WHEREAS, as a disabled person, Angela Sozzani is in need of
   73  funds necessary for her care, and
   74         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani continues to need 24-hour medical
   75  care and treatment as a result of the actions giving rise to
   76  this claim, and
   77         WHEREAS, Robert F. Cullen, Jr., M.D., F.A.A.P., Director
   78  Emeritus of Child Neurology of Miami Children’s Hospital, has
   79  reported that, with optimum medical care, Angela Sozzani’s life
   80  expectancy will be approximately 20 to 30 years, and
   81         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani and Family Continuity Program,
   82  Inc., and Help a Child, Inc., have conditionally reached a
   83  settlement for the limits of each entity’s available insurance,
   84  and
   85         WHEREAS, pursuant to s. 409.175(15), Florida Statutes, any
   86  person who owns and operates a family foster home for the
   87  Department of Children and Family Services, including Ronald and
   88  Joyce Bryson, is provided coverage through the Division of Risk
   89  Management of the Department of Financial Services, as provided
   90  in ss. 284.38 and 284.385, Florida Statutes, and
   91         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani and Ronald and Joyce Bryson have
   92  reached a settlement, and
   93         WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services has
   94  agreed to tender on behalf of Ronald and Joyce Bryson $100,000
   95  pursuant to s. 409.175(15), Florida Statutes, to compensate
   96  Angela Sozzani for damages, and provide a basis for this claim
   97  bill, and
   98         WHEREAS, a special needs trust has been established for the
   99  exclusive benefit and use of Angela Sozzani, and
  100         WHEREAS, the net settlement proceeds from each defendant
  101  will be deposited into the special needs trust, and
  102         WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani is currently eligible for and
  103  receiving Medicaid, which is funding her placement, treatment,
  104  and care costs, and
  105         WHEREAS, if Medicaid does not provide any medically
  106  necessary and appropriate health care services, as determined by
  107  Angela Sozzani’s treatment team, such services will be paid for
  108  using assets from the special needs trust, and
  109         WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services
  110  supports this act to ensure that Angela Sozzani has the funding
  111  and resources necessary to obtain all medically necessary and
  112  appropriate health care for her entire life, and
  113         WHEREAS, because it is unknown how long Angela Sozzani will
  114  actually live and if her medically necessary and appropriate
  115  health care will be provided through Medicaid, the Department of
  116  Children and Family Services has agreed to request in its annual
  117  legislative budget request funds to replenish any funds in the
  118  special needs trust which are expended to provide for Angela’s
  119  placement costs and medical care and treatment that are not
  120  funded by Medicaid, and
  121         WHEREAS, upon the death of Angela Sozzani, any proceeds
  122  remaining in her special needs trust shall first be used to
  123  satisfy the Medicaid lien, together with any additional amounts
  124  owed pursuant to the lien, and the remainder shall be paid to
  125  the General Revenue Fund, NOW, THEREFORE,
  126  
  127  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
  128  
  129         Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble to this act are
  130  found and declared to be true.
  131         Section 2. The Department of Children and Family Services
  132  shall include in its annual legislative budget request for each
  133  fiscal year a request for a specific amount to replenish the
  134  special needs trust of Angela Sozzani up to $180,000, to the
  135  extent that any funds in the special needs trust have been
  136  expended for Angela Sozzani’s placement costs and medical care
  137  and treatment. As part of its initial request, the department
  138  shall include all funds expended after the date upon which the
  139  special needs trust was established through the date of the
  140  initial request.
  141         Section 3. The Department of Children and Family Services
  142  may, under extraordinary circumstances, request in its annual
  143  legislative budget request funds in excess of the limit provided
  144  in section 2 of this act to replenish funds in the special needs
  145  trust which are expended for Angela Sozzani’s placement costs
  146  and medical care and treatment.
  147         Section 4. Upon the death of Angela Sozzani, any proceeds
  148  remaining in her special needs trust shall first be used to
  149  satisfy the Medicaid lien, together with any additional amounts
  150  owed pursuant to the lien, and the remainder shall revert to the
  151  General Revenue Fund.
  152         Section 5. Attorney’s fees, lobbying fees, costs, and other
  153  similar expenses relating to this claim have not been awarded
  154  since Angela Sozzani’s attorneys have provided pro bono
  155  representation.
  156         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.