Hundreds of people who say they suffered physical or sexual abuse at two state-run reform schools in Florida are in line to receive tens of thousands of dollars in restitution from the state, after Florida lawmakers formally apologized for the horrors they endured as children more than 50 years ago.

Summary

Over 800 people have applied for restitution from Florida after enduring abuse at the Dozier School for Boys and its sister school.

The reform schools, infamous for brutal beatings, sexual assaults, and unmarked graves, housed mostly minors sent for petty offenses from 1900–2011.

Florida lawmakers allocated $20 million to be divided among surviving victims following a formal apology in 2017.

The abuses, highlighted in Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Nickel Boys, have drawn renewed attention to the survivors’ resilience and the need for justice.

  • teft
    10•6 days ago

    $25,000 each for life changing abuse…

    Nice that they will get something but they deserve more than peanuts. That probably won’t even cover some counseling sessions.