Foster family agencies and noncustodial adoption agencies.

(1) Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, among other things, provides for the licensure and regulation of foster family agencies, which are organizations engaged in the recruiting, certifying, approving, and training of, and providing professional support to, foster parents and resource families, or in finding homes for foster children in need of care. Existing law also regulates noncustodial adoption agencies, which are licensed entities engaged in the business of providing adoption services. Existing law provides for liability insurance to protect against loss resulting from liability for an injury suffered by a person or for damage to property. Existing case law establishes obligations liability insurers have to the insured, including the duty to indemnify and the duty to defend. This bill would authorize a foster family agency or noncustodial adoption agency, also known as FFA, to be held liable for injury or damage caused by that FFA's negligence but not for the injury or damage caused by the public entity. The bill would require the FFA and the public entity to each bear the cost of insuring against their respective acts and omissions and defending against claims arising from those risks. The bill would prohibit the above provisions from being waived or suspended by a court, and would specify that certain contract provisions with indemnification provisions would be void as against public policy and unenforceable. This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2027. (2) Existing law authorizes a resource family that is currently approved by a foster family agency or a county to be approved by a subsequent foster family agency upon the completion of specified activities, including the resource family submitting an application and the subsequent foster family agency conducting a background check and reference check, as specified. Existing law also authorizes a resource family approved by a foster family agency to transfer their approval to a county upon the completion of similar activities. This bill would specify that the rate paid on behalf of a child or nonminor dependent placed with an approved resource family who has applied for a transfer pursuant to those provisions is the rate most recently established for the child or nonminor dependent. The bill would authorize, upon approval of the resource family by the subsequent foster family agency or county, the rate to be adjusted based on the needs of the child. The bill would also authorize the State Department of Social Services, until January 1, 2027, to waive provisions governing the transfer of resource family approval other than those provisions related to background checks. The bill would make these provisions effective on October 1, 2024, or the effective date of the bill, whichever is later. The bill would authorize the department to implement these provisions by all-county letters or similar directives. The bill would also require the department to report certain information the Legislature relating to the transfer of resource family approval in conjunction with the 2025 May Revision. The bill would require the department, in coordination with other relevant entities, to examine available options to make insurance available to foster family agencies and update the Legislature on these efforts in conjunction with the 2025-26 fiscal year budget process. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.