Image by Raja J. In contrast to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget, the Legislature’s budget proposal includes $31.5 million in bridge funding to help California’s private foster care agencies navigate a fast-moving insurance crisis that developed around the time lawmakers were leaving Sacramento last year.
Image by designer491In August, the Nonprofit Insurance Alliance, which insured 90 percent of the 220 private foster agencies in California, announced that it would not renew coverage of the organizations. Now, these agencies are seeking $47 million from the state budget.
A photo illustration of an abused child. (Photo: Suzanne Tucker, via Shutterstock)The federal government has given California bad marks on monitoring the well-being of children in foster care. State officials were slow to investigate complaints of abuse or neglect, failed to notify investigators of serious sexual abuse allegations and didn’t follow up to ensure cases were resolved, according to an audit released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.