HB 209

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Angela Sozzani; directing the
3	Department of Children and Family Services to include
4	in its annual legislative budget requests an
5	appropriation to compensate Angela Sozzani, a disabled
6	person, by and through her next friend, for injuries
7	and damages sustained as a result of the negligence of
8	employees of the Department of Children and Family
9	Services; providing for the use of funds; specifying
10	funds to be included in the initial appropriation;
11	requiring the department to seek appropriations in
12	excess of the limit established in the act under
13	certain circumstances; providing that no payment of
14	attorney fees, lobbying fees, costs, or other similar
15	expenses relating to the claim shall be awarded;
16	providing an effective date.
17
18	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani, whose date of birth is April 21,
19	2000, experienced a severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,
20	secondary to a near drowning, on April 17, 2002, and, as a
21	result, is forever dependent on receiving 24-hour medical and
22	supportive care, and
23	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani was in the legal custody of the
24	Department of Children and Family Services and had been placed
25	in the medical foster home of Ronald and Joyce Bryson on
26	February 6, 2001, and
27	WHEREAS, Ronald Bryson and Joyce Bryson were each licensed
28	by the Department of Children and Family Services to provide
29	foster care pursuant to s. 409.175, Florida Statutes, and
30	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Ronald and Joyce Bryson were
31	providing foster care to three medically needy foster children
32	and after-school care to their two special-needs grandchildren,
33	even though their foster home was licensed by the Department of
34	Children and Family Services to provide care for only two
35	children, and
36	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Ronald and Joyce Bryson were
37	hosting a party and allowed their two grandchildren to swim in
38	their swimming pool without adult supervision, and
39	WHEREAS, on April 17, 2002, Angela Sozzani, who was nearly
40	2 years of age and was not being supervised, wandered out the
41	open patio door to the pool and fell into the swimming pool,
42	nearly drowning, and
43	WHEREAS, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Angela Sozzani in
44	Pinellas County against the Department of Children and Family
45	Services, Ronald and Joyce Bryson, Family Continuity Program,
46	Inc., and Help a Child, Inc., and
47	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani's claim against Ronald and Joyce
48	Bryson is based on each person's failure to properly supervise
49	Angela and their failure to follow rules of the Department of
50	Children and Family Services, and
51	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani's claim against Family Continuity
52	Program, Inc., which was the lead agency in Pinellas County
53	pursuant to s. 409.1671, Florida Statutes, during the period
54	that Angela was placed in the Bryson home, is based on the
55	entity's failure to comply with rules of the Department of
56	Children and Family Services, failure to perform monthly home
57	visits, failure to ensure Angela's safety in the Bryson foster
58	home, and failure to report the licensing violations that were
59	observed in the Bryson foster home, and
60	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani's claim against Help a Child, Inc.,
61	which was the private entity that contracted with the Department
62	of Children and Family Services to oversee the operation of the
63	medical foster care program through which the Brysons were
64	licensed, is based on the entity's failure to properly oversee
65	and manage the Bryson foster home, failure to train Ronald and
66	Joyce Bryson, failure to comply with rules of the Department of
67	Children and Family Services, and failure to report the
68	licensing violations that were observed in the Bryson foster
69	home, and
70	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani's claim against the Department of
71	Children and Family Services is based on the department's
72	failure to follow its own operating procedures and guidelines
73	with respect to the licensure of the Bryson foster home, which
74	the department knew or should have known would be a dangerous
75	environment to all children, including Angela Sozzani, and
76	WHEREAS, as a disabled person, Angela Sozzani is in need of
77	funds necessary for her care, and
78	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani continues to need 24-hour medical
79	care and treatment as a result of the actions giving rise to
80	this claim, and
81	WHEREAS, Robert F. Cullen, Jr., M.D., F.A.A.P., Director
82	Emeritus of Child Neurology of Miami Children's Hospital, has
83	reported that, with optimum medical care, Angela Sozzani's life
84	expectancy will be approximately 20 to 30 years, and
85	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani and Family Continuity Program,
86	Inc., and Help a Child, Inc., have reached a settlement for the
87	limits of each entity's available insurance, and
88	WHEREAS, pursuant to s. 409.175(15), Florida Statutes, any
89	person who owns and operates a family foster home for the
90	Department of Children and Family Services, including Ronald and
91	Joyce Bryson, is provided coverage through the Division of Risk
92	Management of the Department of Financial Services, as provided
93	in ss. 284.38 and 284.385, Florida Statutes, and
94	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani, by and through her next friend,
95	and Ronald and Joyce Bryson have reached a settlement and the
96	Department of Children and Family Services has tendered payment
97	on behalf of the Brysons in the amount of $100,000 in accordance
98	with the provisions of s. 409.175(15), Florida Statutes, to
99	compensate Angela Sozzani for damages and to provide a basis for
100	this claim bill, and
101	WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services has
102	tendered payment in the amount of $100,000 in accordance with s.
103	768.28, Florida Statutes, to Angela Sozzani as to the claim
104	against the department, and
105	WHEREAS, a special needs trust has been established for the
106	exclusive use and benefit of Angela Sozzani and the net
107	settlement proceeds from each of the defendants have been
108	deposited into the special needs trust, and
109	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani is currently eligible for and
110	receiving Medicaid, and currently all of her placement,
111	treatment, and care costs are being funded through the Medicaid
112	program, and
113	WHEREAS, if Medicaid does not provide any medically
114	necessary and appropriate health care services as determined by
115	Angela Sozzani's treatment team, then such services shall be
116	paid for utilizing assets from Angela Sozzani's special needs
117	trust, and
118	WHEREAS, the Department of Children and Family Services
119	supports this act to ensure that Angela Sozzani has adequate
120	funds and resources for her entire life to obtain all medically
121	necessary and appropriate health care, and
122	WHEREAS, because it is unknown how long Angela Sozzani will
123	actually live and whether all of her medically necessary and
124	appropriate health care will be provided through the Medicaid
125	program, the Department of Children and Family Services has
126	agreed to seek a claims bill which will, as part of the
127	department's annual legislative budget request, provide for the
128	replenishment of any funds expended by Angela Sozzani's special
129	needs trust for placement costs and medical care and treatment
130	not funded by Medicaid, and
131	WHEREAS, Angela Sozzani's attorneys provided pro bono
132	representation for Angela Sozzani in seeking introduction of
133	this relief act at the 2010 and 2011 Regular Sessions of the
134	Legislature and sought no payment of attorney fees, lobbying
135	fees, costs, or other similar expenses relating to this claim,
136	NOW, THEREFORE,
137
138	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
139
140	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
141	are found and declared to be true.
142	Section 2.  Beginning in fiscal year 2013-2014 and for each
143	subsequent fiscal year thereafter for the remainder of Angela
144	Sozzani's life, the Department of Children and Family Services
145	shall include in its annual legislative budget request an amount
146	not to exceed $180,000 to replenish the special needs trust of
147	Angela Sozzani for any funds that have been expended from the
148	trust for Angela Sozzani's placement costs and medical care and
149	treatment that are not funded by Medicaid. As part of the
150	appropriation in the legislative budget request for the 2013-
151	2014 fiscal year, the department shall include all funds
152	expended by the special needs trust for placement costs and
153	medical care and treatment not funded by Medicaid from the date
154	of the trust's inception through the date on which the initial
155	request is made.
156	Section 3.  In the event of extraordinary circumstances,
157	the Department of Children and Family Services in its sole
158	discretion shall, as part of its annual legislative budget
159	request, seek amounts in excess of the limit set forth in
160	section 2 to replenish Angela Sozzani's special needs trust for
161	funds expended for placement costs and medical care and
162	treatment not funded by Medicaid.
163	Section 4.  No attorney fees, lobbying fees, costs, or
164	other similar expenses relating to this claim shall be awarded.
165	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.