A bill to compensate victims of the Dozier and Okeechobee reform schools passed its first Senate committee meeting. According to the bill analysis, more than 500 people allege they faced mental, physical, or sexual abuse by school staff. A team from the University of South Florida led an investigation that found nearly 100 people died on school grounds, including boys aged 6 – 18 years old and two adult staff members.
Sen. Darryl Rouson (D-St. Petersburg) is backing the legislative proposal. It would allow people to apply to be certified victims of the Dozier School for Boys or Okeechobee School.
“This bill very simply identifies such victims, puts a process for verification in place, and allows them to make an application for a claim for physical or psychological injury,” Rouson says.
If the bill passes, victims will have to provide documentation that they were former students of either reform school from 1940 – 1975. Those documents could be from the State Archives of Florida or the schools. Victims would also need to submit an affidavit and proof of ID. The deadline to apply for certification would be September 1, 2021. After getting certified, victims could then submit a claim to the state asking for compensation.
