I was in foster care at about the age of 16 under the under the care of the Department of Children and Families(Hearafter "the Department). During the time that I was a ward of the state I was placed in a foster home. The individual that I was placed with was a 26 year old black male only taking in teenage boys from the age of 15 to 17. The neighborhood that the home was in was riddled with crack dealers and weekly shootings with the police and such. The home itself was a dilapidated trailer falling apart at the seams, infested with roaches, no food in the cabinate or refridgerator, utilities being shut off due to non payment every other month. Needless to say that the home was less than satisfactory as a safe haven for foster children.
I was trying to get into a program provided by the Department known as "Independant Living". The requirements of the state to qualify were as such: The individual must be aging out of foster care, living in a licensed foster home for at least 6 months and have stable full time employment.
The man that I was placed with was a pedifile. I came home from work one evening and he was drunk. He proceeded to attempt to molest me. I did not initally report thease activities to my case worker untill the following week. I had attended a meeting reguarding my placement with the indipendant living program. On the ride back I had explained in detail the occurances in the home. My caseworker then returned me to this foster home and did not report what I had told him untill the following day. I was then removed from the foster home and luckily was able to find placement with an idividual at my place of employment, otherwise I would have been moved to another county and had to start the independant living requirements all over again.
The point of me sharing this is I was eventually told me that I no longer qualified for the independant living program as I was only in that foster home for a period of 5 months and 2 weeks. Not the full 6 months required by the department. I was also placed in a dangerous situation by my caseworker, who was subsiquently fired as a result of his failure to act sooner. He should have never returned me to that home, and if anyone at the Department had a lick of sense a red flag would have been raised that a 26 year old guy (who was homosexual and not hiding it well) living by himself wanted only teenage boys in his home in this terrible neighborhood in his broken down trailer. I was recently made aware that there was a federal law passed that allows individuals in my situation to sue the state for their negligance, and the emotional dammages that its caused me.
I am curious to know what the statue of limitations is on a case such as this, and if that started when I turned 18 or after charges were filed agains the foster parent. Also if anyone has any leads in the state of FL as far as legal councel that would be willing to represent me on a contigiancy fee basis I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for thaking the time to read my storey and any insight that you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.
-RMReidy

