Florida agency settles with family of old man who died after living in squalor
Associated Press Newswires
c) 2003. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The family of an elderly man who died
after living
in rat-infested squalor while under the care of the Department of
Children &
Families has settled a lawsuit with the agency. Relatives of Clarence
Lewis
will receive $100,000, the maximum per incident for which a state
institution
can be sued in a negligence case, the family's lawyers announced
Tuesday.
The lawsuit alleged a DCF investigator closed Lewis' file without
following up
on a report that the man's ceiling was falling down, his couches
were rotten
and that sewage had backed up in the home.
The caseworker, who was denied entry to the home by Lewis, spoke
with him
outside and closed the file despite noticing "a strong odor
coming from the
home," according to the family's law firm, Montgomery &
Larson.
Lewis suffered a stroke and was found unconscious in his home in
October, 2001,
with rats eating at his feet. He died the following month.
The agency's internal review found the department failed to do enough
to
protect Lewis after finding he was living in a rundown home infested
with rats
and roaches.
As a result of the legal action, DCF caseworkers who are denied
entry to a home
where they believe a person may be at risk are now required to contact
local
law enforcement authorities to gain access.
Previously, that procedure was suggested but was not mandatory.
"This case was not about money but about changes that will
protect vulnerable
adults in our state," family attorney Spencer Kuvin said Tuesday.
Since Lewis was found, the DCF caseworker was suspended, her supervisor
fired
and the county administrator for adult protective services resigned.
Bob Brooks, spokesman for DCF in Tallahassee said the state had
conducted
retraining for DCF personnel in the county who deal with adult cases
such as
Lewis'.
The agency has been under fire over a series of high-profile child
welfare
cases, including the disappearance of 5-year-old foster child Rilya
Wilson 15
months before officials realized she was gone. Rilya remains missing.