The Florida Legislature passed a bill aimed at addressing foster care insurance coverage by limiting liability for subcontractors involved in the system.
The law shields subcontractors from liability for actions taken by the lead foster care agency, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and their personnel.
The bill also introduces several measures, including a recruitment program for child protective investigators and case managers, a study of previous legislative reforms affecting case management, and a four-year pilot to evaluate treatment foster care or similar programs that follow evidence-based models.
These programs are intended for children with significant emotional or medical needs.
According to the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, these legislative efforts fall short of resolving the underlying insurance challenges.
Damien Zillas, senior corporate counsel for the group, noted that the reforms do little to reduce the risk for insurers covering organizations that provide essential support and housing to foster children. He said the passage of Senate Bill 7012 is unlikely to stop insurers from exiting the market.
While these attempts to reform the foster care system are laudable, they will do little to curb the risk of insuring those entities that provide foster children with life’s necessities and a loving, caring home
Damien Zillas, senior corporate counsel for the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance
“Therefore, it is very unlikely that Florida Senate Bill 7012 will stem the exodus of insurers leaving this market,” Damien Zillas said.
Pamela Davis, founder and chief executive of Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, explained that Florida is one of many states struggling with similar issues due to changes in public policy and rising social inflation.
She said that over 34 years, the alliance effectively insured foster family agencies, but legislative changes gradually removed the requirement to prove fault. Currently, insurers must pay claims even when the foster care agency was not responsible for the harm.
We insured foster family agencies for 34 years very well, but the law got eroded over the last several years.
Pamela Davis, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance founder, president and CEO
“Over time it moved from a standard where we would have to pay the claim if a foster family agency was at fault, to having to pay the claim no matter whether the foster family agency did anything wrong or not.”
Zillas added that Florida legislators had been considering measures to limit insurance requirements, cap attorney fees, and restrict awards for economic damages. However, those proposals were eventually withdrawn.
Davis emphasized that meaningful change requires lawmakers to revise liability statutes so that an agency can only be held financially responsible if it was negligent or contributed to the harm.
At present, foster care providers are held liable for criminal acts committed by unrelated third parties beyond their control.
- The Louisiana House of Representatives approved several insurance-related bills focused on legal reforms, covering areas such as trial evidence rules and limits on specific types of damage awards. Mark Friedlander, senior director of media relations at the Insurance Information Institute, stated the legislative package is a necessary step to address legal abuses affecting the state’s insurance market.
- The Alberta government introduced legislation that, if passed, will underpin the largest transformation of the auto insurance system in provincial history, and improve and expand access to care for drivers who suffer injuries after a collision, according to Insurance Bureau of Canada. Alberta’s insurers look forward to working with the provincial government to ensure these reforms enhance the care provided to those injured in collisions While ensuring premium affordability over the long term
