{"id":40,"date":"2026-04-13T15:27:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/inside-the-scramble-to-stop-the-displacement-of-thousands-of-california-foster-children\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:27:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:27:04","slug":"inside-the-scramble-to-stop-the-displacement-of-thousands-of-california-foster-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/inside-the-scramble-to-stop-the-displacement-of-thousands-of-california-foster-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the scramble to stop the displacement of thousands of California foster children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For years, the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California had been the primary insurer for the state\u2019s foster family agencies, which house some of the most vulnerable children, including many LGBTQ+  youth, those with severe behavioral or medical needs or who have previously suffered abuse. But in August, NIAC announced it would no longer insure these agencies \u2013 a decision, if maintained, that foster agencies estimate could displace as many as 9,700 children, some as soon as next week. <\/p>\n

Pamela Davis, NIAC\u2019s founder, president and CEO, said she never wanted to pull out of the state but that she fears court precedent under which the insurer would have to pay out in cases of abuse even if the agency is deemed not actually at fault. Foster family agencies, which help house some of the state\u2019s most vulnerable children, are unlike other foster services. They are nonprofits certified on behalf of the state to oversee foster families, but are not eyes-on the families and foster children at all times. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are being asked to insure an uninsurable risk,\u201d Davis said, who points to a lawsuit last year in which NIAC was ordered to shell out millions of dollars as the result of abuse that occurred at a foster placement overseen by a foster family agency.<\/p>\n

NIAC\u2019s decision set off a still ongoing scramble for foster care providers across the state \u2013 and a roiling debate about the legitimacy of NIAC\u2019s concerns. On the last day of this year\u2019s legislative session, at the end of August, lawmakers passed a bill that would streamline administrative processes to move children to homes that are still insured. The bill\u2019s original text included provisions to limit NIAC\u2019s insurance liability but that language was ultimately removed. As a result, even once the bill was signed into law this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom, it did not directly remedy the insurer\u2019s concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Democrat who introduced the legislation, stressed that the bill is a temporary solution to keep California\u2019s most vulnerable children in their current homes and to give policymakers time to find a more permanent solution.<\/p>\n

For now, county welfare agencies are working in tandem with foster family agencies as quickly as possible as the first insurance lapse deadline approaches next week. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services said the agency is working with the state to find a timely solution, as the impact of losing these agencies would be devastating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had been having these conversations a year ago, I think we would\u2019ve been able to work to identify alternative solutions to secure insurance or to help FFAs find alternative insurance,\u201d said Eileen Cubanski, interim executive director of the County Welfare Directors Association. \u201cFrankly, we need FFAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

If lawmakers don\u2019t find a fix, foster family agencies across the state will be forced to either find new, higher priced insurance providers, or shut down. Several have already started sunsetting. For Sycamores, which serves hundreds of thousands of people, including a six-bed foster family agency program, their $322,000 insurance premium is projected to soar to upward of $1 million if they are forced to find a new provider.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a choice, we have to get some kind of insurance,\u201d said Debra Manners, Sycamores\u2019 president and CEO. \u201cWe have to keep the program. For us, it\u2019s such an important part of the continuum to help kids have a better life.\u201d <\/p>\n

Davis said that while the insurer understands, and embraces, its liability to pay in cases in which the foster agency it insures is deemed actually at-fault, it cannot afford to foot the bill for massive payouts in cases in which the agency it insures is not actually to blame for abuse that occurs. <\/p>\n

The state wants a perfect system without any ability to ensure one, Davis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different than any other model of care. And yet they\u2019re trying  to hold them to the same standard as if they have the kids in the classroom all day long,\u201d Davis said. \u201cYou can\u2019t assure perfection. We did as required by the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

In explaining NIAC\u2019s decision, Davis has pointed to a December 2023 jury decision which awarded $24.8 million in damages to a trio of siblings who said they had been sexually assaulted in a foster home in Northern California. While Mark Martinez, the abuser, passed multiple background checks and did not have a history of abuse, he failed to fill out nine of 12 questions that screen for child sex offenders, an oversight that the plaintiff argued showed negligence. NIAC has noted that those missing questions were ultimately answered during a followup interview, and that Martinez’s answers did not include anything that would have prevented a foster placement.<\/p>\n

Daniel Friedenthal, the defense attorney who represented Alternative Family Services, the foster agency that made the placement, said he had expected, at most, that the agency would be ordered to pay about 20 percent of the jury award. Instead, the jury ruled that the foster agency was responsible for producing 60 percent of the financial award \u2013 roughly $15 million. <\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether the award, which is under appeal, will stand. Scott Montgomery, the attorney who represented the three children, said he expects the appeals process to stretch on for years.<\/p>\n

After the December trial, Friedenthal said, jurors told him that they wanted to make sure the children received recompense and, since their convicted abuser had been sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison, that meant making the agency and its insurer responsible for the payout. <\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it doesn\u2019t reflect the real culprits in the case, they do it to make sure the kids are taken care of,\u201d Friedenthal said.<\/p>\n

However, while NIAC has described the jury award as a precedent for an insurer being held liable even without fault, Ed Howard, senior counsel and senior policy advocate for the Children\u2019s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego, noted that the actual facts of the case do include negligence on behalf of the foster family agency that NIAC insured. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have zero evidence beyond this one case that there is a trend,\u201d Howard said. \u201cAnd that one case utterly refutes their contention that the FFA did nothing wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n

Howard also noted a Sept. 9 email that NIAC sent to the foster family agencies they insure where the insurer said any agency that took in a ported child from another that was losing their insurance would have their policy canceled. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t cancel people without investigating the circumstances of each and every individual insured,\u201d Howard said. \u201cEvery FFA that\u2019s canceled under those circumstances potentially has a lawsuit against NIAC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis defended NIAC\u2019s letter, noting that if the current legislation is signed into law, she believes it will amount to a material change to insurance standards, giving them the right to cancel policies. While the current legislation would streamline some administrative processes, Davis said it does address NIAC\u2019s concerns about background checks. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not willing to take on the risk of the reduced standards for protection,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Wendy Wang, chief public policy and advocacy officer at Sycamores, said the email was highly discouraging and will lead Sycamores to seek non-NIAC insured nonprofits \u2013 of which there are only about five in Los Angeles county \u2013 for any children who will need to be transferred as they approach their own non-renewal date in November. At a time when a number of children will likely need to be transferred while lawmakers seek a solution, Wang said NIAC\u2019s threat will make agencies less likely to take in additional children. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheir hands are tied now given that email,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The County Welfare Directors Association said it is looking into whether NIAC\u2019s threat amounts to a breach of its contract with the foster family agencies. And, in the meantime, counties across the state are preparing for an influx of foster children in need of new accommodations in the coming weeks. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt leaves folks more vulnerable to be entangled in experiencing exploitation,\u201d said Julia Arroyo, executive director of the Young Women\u2019s Freedom Center, a California nonprofit that supports young women and trans youth who have been in the foster care system. \u201cWe don\u2019t want folks to have to turn to things like that, to be manipulated or to be in positions where they really don\u2019t want to be or experience further harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

This piece has been updated to clarify the details of the initial legislative proposal, note that Gov. Newsom has now signed it into law, and to add additional comment from NIAC.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\nLink to Inside the scramble to stop the displacement of thousands of California foster children<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: 5 minutes For years, the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California had been the primary insurer for the state\u2019s foster family agencies, which house some of the most vulnerable children, including many LGBTQ+  youth, those with severe behavioral or medical needs or who have previously suffered abuse. But in August, NIAC announced it would …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["type-post","category-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/journalists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}