BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 863
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 863 (Bonilla) - As Introduced: February 17, 2011
Policy Committee: Human
ServicesVote:4 - 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill expands the Foster Family Home and Small Family Home
Insurance Fund (FFH/SFH Fund) liability insurance coverage for
foster parents, to include all criminal or intentional acts
committed against a foster child, unless committed by the foster
parents themselves.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)The defendant in the Brandon S. v. The State of California
lawsuit that drove an identical bill last year was asking for
$250,000 in damages. Under this bill, it is likely that he
would have received those damages from the fund. Depending on
how many similar cases are brought forward, it could cost the
fund in excess of $200,000 per case (FFH/SFH Fund).
2)The Governor's 2011-12 Budget proposes returning $3 million to
the GF and leaving $2.4 million in the Foster Family Home and
Small Family Home Insurance Fund. To the extent this
legislation increases payments from the fund to foster
families or foster children, that on-going surplus could
decrease.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author's intent is for this bill to increase
the protections for foster parents by allowing their liability
insurance to cover any criminal or intentional acts
perpetrated against a foster child, unless those acts are
specifically committed by the foster parents themselves.
AB 863
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Notably, this legislation would protect parents from liability
if their minor children commit criminal acts against foster
children in their home. The author hopes that this increased
coverage and protection will help recruit and retain good
foster parents.
In addition, this bill would help ensure that a foster child,
their birth parents, or guardians, will be able to receive
payments from the fund for criminal and intentional acts
committed against the child, as long as those acts are not
committed by the foster parents.
This bill seeks to amend existing law following an Appeals
Court ruling which upheld the lower court's decision for the
defendant in the case of Brandon S. v. The State of California
ex rel. Foster Family Home and Small Family Home Insurance
Fund ((2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 815). The case concerned a
foster child who was sexually abused by the minor stepson of
his licensed foster parent. The child, Brandon S., filed a
claim with the Fund seeking damages for emotional and physical
injuries, but because the stepson admitted to the molestation
charge, Brandon's claim was denied on the basis that all
criminal and intentional acts are excluded from coverage in
statute.
2)Background . The Fund was created by the Legislature in 1986 to
provide gap liability coverage to licensed foster family homes
and small family homes. Prior to the creation of the Fund,
licensed foster family home operators cited they were
routinely denied homeowner's and other types of insurance
based on their status as foster parents, or related
activities. The Fund, along with companion changes in policy
governing insurance coverage (INS 676.7), allowed foster
family homes indemnification for liability incurred during the
course of providing related services. This effort was aimed
at ensuring the state could recruit and retain qualified
foster family providers.
Once licensed, a foster family home is covered by the Fund for
claims totaling up to $300,000 in a single year for valid
claims submitted by foster children or their parents or
guardians that occur as a result of the activities of the
foster parent, while the child resides in the home. The
original $300,000 cap was enacted in 1986 and has not changed
in the over twenty years since. According to DSS, in fiscal
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year 2009-2010, there were 13 new claims submitted to the
Fund, of which $287,000 were paid in claim settlements. In
2010-2011 thus far, there have been 8 new claims submitted and
$14,500 has been paid in claim settlements. The annual GF
appropriation is $1.096 million for the fund.
3)Related Legislation . In 2010, a substantially similar bill, AB
2206 (Hill), was held on this committee's suspense file.
SB 706 (Florez) 2004 was a DSS-sponsored bill that would have
narrowed the scope of the Fund and would have, among other
provisions, specified that losses arising from criminal,
intentional or fraudulent acts by a foster parent or a person
residing in the home were excluded from liability, even if
there was a related allegation of negligence. That bill died
in the Assembly Judiciary Committee without a hearing.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081