Marianna, Florida - Hundreds of survivors of two notorious reform schools in Florida have applied for restitution from the state for the horrors they experienced as youth.

More than 800 applications were received seeking compensation for abuses suffered at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna and the Florida School for Boys at Okeechobee, ahead of a December 31 deadline for claims, the Associated Press reported.

Florida last March passed a bill to set aside $20 million to compensate survivors of the state-run schools, which functioned essentially as prisons for children and youth who were accused of minor offenses, had run away from home, or were orphaned or abandoned.

In operation from 1900 until 2011, the Dozier School for Boys subjected children and youth to systemic psychological, physical, and sexual abuse and murder. Around 100 boys died at the institution, with many bodies buried in unmarked graves.

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Black boys faced especially brutal treatment and for decades were housed in segregated facilities. Three times as many Black students died and were buried at Dozier compared to their white counterparts.

The Dozier School formed the inspiration for Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Nickel Boys, which was adapted in a 2024 film of the same name.