The largest insurer of California’s foster agencies says it’s ending coverage. Foster care advocates fear that if the issue isn’t resolved, children will end up being displaced.
When Adriana Mancilla first became a foster parent, she thought she’d only do it for a couple of years. Her family had a three-bedroom house in Sylmar and three of their own biological children.
But 22 years and 150 kids later, she’s still caring for foster children. Three bedrooms have expanded to six.
“What I’ve learned is that it could be possible to help,” she said. “It’s already hard enough for them to be apart from their families. So, it’s like, try to give them the comfort that they need when they’re going through those hard times.”
Mancilla is a foster parent through Aviva Family and Children’s Services, one of dozens of foster family agencies that contract with Los Angeles County to recruit, certify, and support foster parents — often for high-needs children. Statewide, these agencies care for about 9,000 foster children. But the agency, and many others across the state, are on the brink of losing their ability to operate after a major insurer has decided to pull out of the market.
Earlier this year, the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC), which it says insures about 90% of the market, announced it was not renewing plans starting Oct.1, citing a rise in litigation costs. Without liability insurance, these foster family agencies cannot operate foster homes.
Aviva’s insurance expires Nov.1, which has left them with little time to try to find a solution for the 40 foster families and the children in their care.
“The last thing that we need for these kids that have experienced trauma, that have experienced abuse, is for them to continue to get churned through the child welfare system and move from home to home to home,” said Amber Rivas, Aviva’s president and CEO.
