Florida's Children First Fights Legislative Efforts to Limit Liability and Accountability for Private Providers of Welfare Services That Affect Vulnerable Children

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida's Children First, the state's leading legal advocate for kids in state care, is gearing up to fight controversial legislation that would limit the liability and accountability of private entities that provide services to vulnerable children .  The organization's first target is House Bill 615/Senate Bill 966 which aims to impose liability limits on health care providers that contract with the state and whose client base is comprised 75% or more of individuals with disabilities and/or mental illnesses.  This not only affects adults, and senior citizens, but will affect a significant number of foster kids - as many as 30%, or 6,000, children in state care have some form of disability.

"What this bill says is that if a child is severely injured through malpractice or negligence by one of these private contractors, that child would be prevented from receiving fair compensation for their medical bills and long term care," said FCF Executive Director Christina Spudeas. "The bill is cruel and targets Florida's most vulnerable and defenseless citizens -- persons who already were disabled or in foster care when they were injured or re-abused."

The bill gives private health providers the same immunity that the State is afforded by capping the amount they would have to pay out if they hurt someone to $200,000 per incident.  The agencies stand to benefit at the expense of a human life.  

While HB 615/SB 966 cover health care contractors specifically, Florida's Children First is concerned that private contractors for foster care services, known as Community Based Care providers,  (CBCs), and other private entities that subcontract under them, will be next to seek to limit their liability.  A decade ago, the Legislature created community based care to bring more accountability to the state's foster care system.  Laws were written to make sure these providers were held financially accountable when they messed up and hurt a child in their care, and that taxpayers did not bear the burden for their negligence.  Lawmakers decided to balance the needs of the severely injured child with the needs of the private sector to have affordable insurance.  In doing so, it they agreed to limit insurance coverage to a reasonable amount---$1 million per claim and $3 million per incident—so that the child could receive long-term care in most instances.  

"This is a reasonable compromise and one that should not be tampered with," said Spudeas. "It would be totally irresponsible if agencies and their subcontractors were to be held any less accountable than they are now and leave taxpayers footing bigger bills."  

Taxpayers would pay much bigger bills if private providers have their way to limit their liability, because injured foster children would have to file what is called a Claims Bill to get taxpayers to pick up the difference between the insurance coverage limits and the child's long term medical care costs.  That usually amounts to millions of dollars.

Florida Children's First fears that these private foster care providers will seek to decrease their exposure to save money on insurance costs with a proposed collective savings of around $2 million.

"The savings would amount to about $75 per foster child per year, or about 21 cents a day which is less than it costs to buy a gumball," Spudeas said. "Is the life of one of our children not worth a single gumball?"

Any attempts to reduce the liability and accountability of these private companies is to the detriment of children in state care and would be a travesty," said Spudeas.  "We will vehemently oppose any effort to do so."

About Florida's Children First (FCF):

Located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, FCF is Florida's leading non-profit advocacy organization that fights for the rights of at-risk children and youth, especially those in state care. For more information, log on to www.floridaschildrenfirst.org.

SOURCE Florida's Children First