Bill Text: FL S0024 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 26-12-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-04 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/HB 21 [S0024 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0024-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2024                        CS for CS for SB 24
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; and Governmental Oversight
       and Accountability; and Senators Rouson, Davis, Osgood, Burgess,
       Pizzo, Jones, Garcia, Torres, and Stewart
       
       
       
       594-03802-24                                            202424c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Dozier School for Boys and
    3         Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program;
    4         creating s. 16.63, F.S.; establishing the Dozier
    5         School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim
    6         Compensation Program within the Department of Legal
    7         Affairs; specifying the purpose of the program;
    8         requiring the department to accept and process
    9         applications for the payment of compensation claims
   10         under the program; requiring the department to provide
   11         specified notice of the program; specifying
   12         application procedures and requirements; requiring the
   13         department to issue application approvals or denials
   14         under specified conditions; requiring the department,
   15         subject to the appropriation of funds for that
   16         purpose, to pay a specified compensation amount to
   17         approved applicants; requiring notice of application
   18         approval or denial; authorizing an applicant whose
   19         application is rejected to submit a new application;
   20         providing that a person compensated under the program
   21         is ineligible for further compensation related to his
   22         confinement; requiring the department to adopt by rule
   23         specified procedures and forms; authorizing the
   24         Commissioner of Education to award a standard high
   25         school diploma to specified persons under certain
   26         circumstances; providing an appropriation; providing
   27         an effective date.
   28          
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Section 16.63, Florida Statutes, is created to
   32  read:
   33         16.63Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim
   34  Compensation Program.—
   35         (1)The Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim
   36  Compensation Program is established within the Department of
   37  Legal Affairs. The purpose of the program is to compensate
   38  living persons who were confined to the Dozier School for Boys
   39  or the Okeechobee School at any time between 1940 and 1975 and
   40  who were subjected to mental, physical, or sexual abuse
   41  perpetrated by school personnel while they were so confined.
   42         (2)The Department of Legal Affairs shall accept, review,
   43  and approve or deny applications for the payment of compensation
   44  claims under this section. Notice of the availability of such
   45  compensation must be given and any relevant forms made available
   46  for download on a page of the department’s official website
   47  accessible through a direct link on the website’s homepage,
   48  which link and page must be titled “The Dozier School for Boys
   49  and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program.”
   50         (3)An application for compensation under this section must
   51  be made by a living person who was confined to the Dozier School
   52  for Boys or the Okeechobee School between 1940 and 1975; the
   53  personal representative or estate of a decedent may not file an
   54  application for or receive compensation under this section. Such
   55  application must be made on a form approved by the department
   56  and include:
   57         (a)The applicant’s name, date of birth, mailing address,
   58  telephone number, and, if available, electronic mail address.
   59         (b)The name of the school in which the applicant was
   60  confined and the approximate dates of the applicant’s
   61  confinement.
   62         (c)Reasonable proof submitted as attachments establishing
   63  that the applicant was both:
   64         1.Confined to the Dozier School for Boys or the Okeechobee
   65  School between 1940 and 1975, which proof may include school
   66  records submitted with a notarized certificate of authenticity
   67  signed by the records custodian or certified court records.
   68         2.A victim of mental, physical, or sexual abuse
   69  perpetrated by school personnel during the applicant’s
   70  confinement, which proof may include a notarized statement
   71  signed by the applicant attesting to the abuse the applicant
   72  suffered.
   73         (d)A signed statement from the applicant acknowledging
   74  that, by accepting compensation under this section, the
   75  applicant waives any right to further compensation related to
   76  the applicant’s confinement at the Dozier School for Boys or the
   77  Okeechobee School or any abuse suffered during such confinement.
   78  
   79  An application for compensation under this section must be
   80  signed by the applicant under oath. A false statement in such
   81  application, including in any attachment or exhibit submitted
   82  therewith, is subject to the penalty of perjury under s.
   83  837.012.
   84         (4)Applications for compensation under this section must
   85  be submitted no later than December 31, 2024.
   86         (5)Upon completed review of an application submitted under
   87  this section, the department shall either:
   88         (a)Subject to appropriation, approve a one-time payment to
   89  an applicant whose application meets the criteria specified in
   90  this section. Each approved applicant shall receive an equal
   91  share of the funds appropriated for this purpose.
   92         (b)Deny the payment of compensation under this section to
   93  an applicant whose application does not meet the criteria
   94  specified in this section.
   95  
   96  Written notice of such approval or denial must be sent by
   97  certified mail, return receipt requested, to the mailing address
   98  provided by the applicant on the application form. An applicant
   99  whose application is rejected for providing insufficient
  100  information may submit a new application as provided in
  101  subsection (4).
  102         (6)A person compensated under this section is ineligible
  103  for any further compensation related to the person’s confinement
  104  at the Dozier School for Boys or the Okeechobee School or any
  105  abuse suffered during such confinement.
  106         (7)The department shall adopt by rule procedures and forms
  107  necessary to administer this section.
  108         Section 2. Pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of
  109  Education, the Commissioner of Education may award a standard
  110  high school diploma to a person compensated pursuant to s.
  111  16.63, Florida Statutes, who has not completed high school
  112  graduation requirements.
  113         Section 3. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of $20
  114  million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is
  115  appropriated to the Department of Legal Affairs for the Dozier
  116  School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation
  117  Program.
  118         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

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