TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Editor's Note: The video in the player is from a 2020 interview.
Florida legislation looking to put a means of restitution in place for those who suffered horrific abuse at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna continues to stall out.
Both SB 288 and its companion bill in the Florida House have not progressed through the legislature in nearly a month.
The Senate bill is sponsored by Sen. Darryl Rouson (D- St. Petersburg) and wants to find a way to help correct "a unique and shameful chapter in the history of the state."
Dozier was open for more than 100 years in the Florida Panhandle and officially closed in 2011. From 2012 to 2016, the remains of 55 people were found on the former reform school's property. Then in 2019, research crews were alerted to the possibility of an additional 27 anomalies.
Ground-penetrating radar determined those anomalies were mostly roots from pine trees moved from the area years ago, according to officials.
In the years since, the state has formally apologized to the survivors and families for the abuses and deaths that happened at Dozier.
More than 500 former Dozier students have come forward over the years to report physical, sexual and mental abuse at the hands of those who worked there.
But Rouson wants more than an apology for those who have claimed to suffer abuse "rather than the guidance and compassion that children in state custody should receive."
The Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Abuse Victim Certification Act applies to those who suffered mental, physical or sexual abuse by school personnel between 1940 and 1975.
Anyone who has since died is not able to have a certification filed on their behalf by their estate or personal representative.
While the bills may not have made much progress over the last 30 days, that doesn't mean the "White House Boys" are giving up.
They're the survivors who named their group after a white, concrete building on campus where many of the beatings were reported to have happened.
WJXT reports the group went to the State Capitol Wednesday to try to garner support for the bill.
“We’re not giving up,” Pastor Johnny Lee Gaddy told the outlet.
Others who attended the school just want at least a negotiation to be put in place.
“I don’t have a number, but if one were offered to us we would consider it whatever the number is," Roy Conerly told WJXT.
The bill's future is unclear as the state's legislative session still has another 30 days to push through.
The investigation at Dozier closed in 2020 and researchers say it will remain that way unless its team receives credible information to start digging again, like the specific name of a missing person or more proof of potential remains in a particular area.
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