Tuesday, October 03, 2000
Florida Dept. of Health & Rehabilitative Services v. S.A.P.

No.00-105

Duval County


S.A.P. was born in 1975 and removed from her abusive mother in 1978. HRS placed her with a foster home in Jacksonville. In 1979 Clay County Sheriff's officers found her in Orange Park, which was not the location of her supposed foster home. S.A.P. had been severely beaten and burned and, though four years old, weighed only 22 pounds. She sued in 1995, alleging that her HRS case worker falsified records to suggest that her placement was bring properly monitored. The trial court dismissed the suit on grounds it was filed outside the 7-year statute of repose. On appeal, the First District Court reversed.