DCF workers here in Connecticut ignore the complaints from family members when
their child is abused in foster care according to parents statewide. A
complaint is a complaint no matter where it originates from. Children show up
bruised on visits and deny parents from taking pictures.


http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/jul/21/state_settles_lawsuit_female_raped_fo\
ster_care/

naplesnews.com
State settles lawsuit with female raped in foster care
By Larry Hannan

Saturday, July 21, 2007



The Florida Department of Children and Families has settled a lawsuit with the
guardians of a mentally disabled girl who repeatedly was molested by her foster
father in Immokalee and ended up pregnant.

DCF has agreed to pay the guardians of Pierreisna Archille $1.3 million for
ignoring complaints of abuse made by Pierreisna’s younger sister, Darlene
Achille. Pierreisna’s foster father, Bonifacio Valazquez, repeatedly raped
Pierreisna when she was an underage minor and Pierreisna ended up pregnant at
17.

When Darlene alleged abuse, DCF transferred her to another foster home and left
Pierreisna in the Valazquez home. DCF didn’t take the abuse complaints seriously
until it was discovered that Pierreisna was four months pregnant.

The failure of DCF to follow up on Darlene’s complaints was the crux of the
lawsuit, which argued DCF caseworkers and investigators were negligent and
allowed the rapes to happen.

It generally is Daily News policy not to publish the names of victims of sexual
abuse. However, Darlene Achille gave the newspaper permission to identify her
sister, for whom she is the legal guardian. The sisters’ last names are spelled
differently, according to their birth certificates.

Valazquez and his late wife, Josephine, were registered foster parents in
Immokalee. When Josephine died in 1999, DCF workers came in to re-evaluate
whether Valazquez could care for all the children in the home by himself. They
removed Pierreisna and other girls but recommended relicensing him to care for
boys.

Five days later, Pierreisna’s new foster family found she was pregnant. This
happened two years after Darlene accused Valazquez of abusing several children,
including a girl who then was 2 years old.

The allegations were dismissed at the time they were first made, but a new
investigation was conducted that led to Velazquez going to jail after it was
discovered that Pierreisna was pregnant.

In addition to the rape, Velazquez attempted to smother Pierreisna, threatened
to kill her, choked her and took photographs of her naked, according to records.
Valazquez, now 72, was sentenced in 2001 for sexual battery and in 2003 for
indecent assault of a child under 16. He is scheduled to be released from prison
in 2008.
Darlene is now the primary guardian of Pierreisna and the child she had. They
live in Fort Myers.

Darlene is 22 and Pierreisna is 25, but Pierreisna has a mental disability that
gives her the thought process of a 13 year old, court records show.

Pierreisna works at a Publix. Darlene is a full-time student at Florida Gulf
Coast University who also works at a SweetBay.

This lawsuit had been bogged down in procedure for five years until it recently
was settled.

Attorney Richard Filson, who represents Darlene and Pierreisna, said the key was
Gov. Charlie Crist coming into office and installing former state Attorney
General Bob Butterworth as the new secretary of DCF.

Butterworth pushed to settle the case, while previously DCF fought to delay the
case indefinitely, Filson said.

“The state did dramatically change its position,” Filson said. “That made it
much easier to have a good-faith settlement negotiation.

DCF spokeswoman Kristi Sonntag said Crist expressed a desire to settle these
types of cases when he came into office.

“The attitude is they want these cases settled as quickly as possible,” Sonntag
said. “It’s the best solution for both parties.”

Under the settlement agreement, Darlene and Pierreisna get $100,000 now. The
other $1.2 million must be approved by the state Legislature by passing what is
known as a claims bill. The Legislature must approve the settlement because
state law caps judgments against government agencies at $100,000. Payments over
that amount can only be awarded if approved by the Legislature.

A claims bill is expected to be introduced soon in the Legislature. Sonntag said
DCF wouldn’t oppose the passage of that bill.

Filson said the money is needed for Darlene to take care of both Pierreisna and
the child. A consulting firm had estimated that it would cost $4.5 million to
care for Pierreisna and the child.

“This is the absolute minimum that we were willing to settle for,” Filson said.
“If I’d had to take the case to trial my client would have had to testify. She
didn’t relish that fact.”

Howard Talenfeld, an attorney who is president of Florida’s Children First, a
confederation of lawyers who work on behalf of children, will be the point
person in getting a claims bill through the Legislature on behalf of Pierreisna.

Talenfeld said he is talking to legislators now and expects to have someone in
the House and Senate introduce claim bills by Aug. 1.

Talenfeld declined to say who would be sponsoring the legislation in the House
and Senate because those discussions are ongoing.

The Legislature has approved requests like this before, but not for the past few
years.

The most notable recent case involved Kimberly Goodwin, a developmentally
disabled girl who was raped by the son of the director of a group care home in
which she was living. Goodwin was awarded $8 million in 2002.

No significant claims bill has been passed by the Legislature since then,
Talenfeld said.

The next regular session of the Legislature is in 2008. But it’s possible the
bill could be approved earlier if a special session is called this year.

Former state Rep. Dudley Goodlette of Naples said getting a claims bill approved
can be challenging.

“There are some legislators who believe the cap (on awards) exists for a
reason,” Goodlette said, adding that those legislators oppose all claim bills.

When the leader of a committee that must approve a claims bill feels this way,
or the leadership of the House or Senate has this philosophy, no claim bills
make it to the floor for approval, Goodlette said.

Goodlette isn’t involved in this case, but has read news accounts of the
lawsuit.

“From what I’ve heard this is the type of claim that would merit approval,” he
said.


© 2007 Naples Daily News and NDN Productions. Published in Naples, Florida, USA
by the E.W. Scripps Co.






Lisa Marie Macci

www.lisamacci.com

Listen to THE JUSTICE HOUR, Mondays from 9 to 10 in the morning, WPBR 1340 am.




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