The State - News from Feb. 16, 1986

Foster parents in California plan to launch a moratorium on non-emergency child placements, beginning March 15, unless the state solves their liability insurance problems. Susan Gambini, president of the California Foster Parents Assn., estimated that half of the state’s 14,000 foster homes may participate in the freeze, which would leave counties to find temporary housing for children in private homes or juvenile halls. Foster parents have been unable to buy liability insurance since the last underwriter stopped selling such policies last summer, Gambini said. Los Angeles and Sacramento counties cover their foster families under self-insurance programs, but other counties offer no such backing, she said. The association wants the state Legislature to mandate insurance or place a ceiling on the size of claims.