FL S0024

Appropriates $950,000 from the General Revenue Fund to compensate J.D.S., a developmentally disabled woman who was raped and impregnated in December 2002 while living at the Strong Group Home, a facility licensed and supervised by the Department of Children and Family Services

J.D.S., who has autism, cerebral palsy, and mental retardation, was sexually assaulted by Philip Strong, the husband of the group home owner/operator, resulting in a pregnancy and birth of a daughter who was placed for adoption

Settlement stems from a lawsuit alleging the department negligently supervised the Strong Group Home and violated J.D.S.'s rights under the Bill of Rights of Persons with Developmental Disabilities to be free from sexual abuse

Payment of $950,000 fulfills a stipulated settlement agreement where the Agency for Persons with Disabilities already paid $200,000, bringing total compensation to $1.15 million

Caps attorney fees, lobbying fees, costs, and similar expenses at 25 percent of the awarded amount, with funds to be placed in a pooled special needs trust managed by AGED, Inc.