FL S0022

Appropriates $28 million from the General Revenue Fund to compensate L.P., a minor, for injuries sustained when Department of Children and Families caseworkers negligently failed to remove her from her mother's custody in June 2015

L.P., then 6 years old, was stabbed 14 times by her mother, including an attempted disembowelment, within hours after DCF conducted an inadequate wellness check and ignored warnings about the mother's mental health

Payment will be made to a special needs trust created for L.P.'s exclusive benefit, following a jury verdict of $28 million affirmed by the Second District Court of Appeal

DCF has already paid $200,000 under the statutory liability cap in section 768.28, Florida Statutes

Attorney fees, lobbying fees, and similar expenses are capped at 25 percent of the total amount awarded under this act