FL Legislature approves $20 million to compensate victims of abuse at state-run reform schools

Boys walking by dormitories at the School for Boys in Marianna, Florida. 1950 (circa) Credit: Florida Memory, State Library and Archives of Florida.

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The Florida Legislature is now poised to send a bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis that would award a total of $20 million to the victims of abuse at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee reform school in North Florida.

The Florida Senate on Monday unanimously approved the proposal (HB 23) and the House passed the legislation last week.

Tampa Bay area Democratic. Sen. Darryl Rouson after the vote on March 4, 2024 (photo credit: Mitch Perry)

State Sen. Darryl Rouson, of Tampa Bay, said on the Senate floor that the $20 million would be a “a solemn obligation to honor the souls of the dead and the still missing. To give credence to those present whose voices yet scream of the atrocities, the horrors, the terrible things that happened to the children, the boys, who are now men left to tell the stories.”

Rouson has been working to get the compensation since he began serving in the Florida House more than a decade ago. He was elected in the Senate in 2016.

Over those years, some of the still living victims of rape and physical beatings by officers at those reform schools have been making their way to Tallahassee to tell state lawmakers about the horrors suffered at those state-run institutions. They’ve been dubbed “the White House Boys” for the building on the Dozier campus in Marianna, where boys were – among other things – beaten with a leather strap attached to a wooden handle.

The school was closed after a federal investigation in 2011, and lawmakers gave a formal apology to the survivors back in 2017.

The boys confined between 1940 and 1975 and were subjected to abuse at the Dozier School and the Okeechobee reform school, will receive compensation. Rouson told the Phoenix last week that he believes that there are approximately 400 living survivors of the abuse, which would break down to roughly $50,000 per survivor.

Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis said that while no amount of financial compensation could make up for the physical abuse and mental trauma that these men have endured for decades, “it sure does help to look towards a brighter future.”

“It sure does help to get the resources and the help you need to get at 70-80 years old to end your days better than they started when you were abused and tortured at a state ran school,” she said.

Northeast Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley said that she had followed the stories about what happened at Dozier over the years in news articles and books but said the actual testimony of abuse that she heard this session in a Senate committee touched her emotionally.

“I don’t think that you can appreciate the emotional impact to really capture the horror until you’ve heard that testimony,” she said.

Gene Luker is one of the oldest living “White House Boys”. He turns 80 next month (photo credit: Mitch Perry)

One of the living survivors of abuse at Dozier is Tampa resident Gene Luker, who has been testifying in front of lawmakers to tell his story since 2016. It hasn’t been easy. “I get very emotional when I come up here,” he told the Phoenix after the vote. “It brings back so much that we – I tried to bury my [emotions] in alcohol.”

At the age of 79 (he will be 80 next month), Luker says that he believes he is one of the oldest living “White House Boys” survivors.

Although Sen. Rouson has stated that he believes that there are approximately 400 living survivors, Luker thinks there aren’t that many.

“I don’t believe that,” he said. “I think if there’s around 100-150 from that time limit,” though he joked that more might “come out of the woodwork” now that it looks more possible than ever that the living victims will receive some financial compensation.

For Luker and the other “White House Boys,” there is still one more step to go. With the bill passing through the House last week (that measure was sponsored by Escambia County Republican Michelle Salzman and Duval County Republican Kiyan Michael), the proposal will soon go to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for his consideration.

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