Bill
S 1280
Creates a temporary commission to study and reduce foster-care liability insurance burdens on Massachusetts providers, with findings due by Oct 1, 2025; no immediate policy change.
Status snapshot
- Filed/Presented: January 15, 2025 (filed as Senate No. 1280; presented by Sen. John C. Velis).
- Current status (per docket): Passed the Senate (June 11, 2025); referred to the House committee on Codes (listed as “REFERRED TO CODES”).
- Statutory change proposed: inserts new Section 33D into Chapter 119 of the Massachusetts General Laws.
- Commission report deadline: October 1, 2025.
Purpose / intent
- Establish a special commission to investigate and develop recommendations to address the costs, administrative burdens and other barriers that comprehensive foster‑care providers (contracted by the Department of Children and Families, DCF) face in obtaining and maintaining foster‑care liability insurance.
Key provisions
- Creates a statutory special commission (Section 33D) with specified membership and charge.
- Membership (or designees) includes: chairs of the Joint Committee on Children, Families & Persons with Disabilities (to serve as chair); Secretary of Health and Human Services; Commissioner of the Division of Insurance; Commissioner of DCF; chair of the foster care caucus; representative of the Office of the Child Advocate; a representative of foster‑care liability insurers in MA; two representatives from comprehensive foster‑care providers (appointed by the Children’s League of Massachusetts); a Children’s League representative; plus three members appointed by the committee chairs on recommendation of the Children’s League — including one family member of a child/adolescent receiving services and one individual who has served as a comprehensive foster‑care parent. The bill directs the appointing authorities to seek diverse perspectives and geographic representation.
- Commission duties include:
- Compile data on the cost of foster‑care liability insurance in Massachusetts and nationally.
- Collect recent data on in‑state and out‑of‑state insurance claims involving comprehensive foster‑care providers.
- Examine availability of insurance, barriers to obtaining coverage, and existing insurer/provider practices.
- Review best‑practice approaches used in other states and solicit information from providers, carriers and other stakeholders.
- Identify and recommend solutions to reduce financial and programmatic pressures related to liability insurance for foster‑care providers.
- Timing: all appointments must be made within 30 days after the act’s effective date; findings and legislative recommendations must be submitted to the Clerks of the Senate and House by October 1, 2025.
Who is affected
- Primary: providers of comprehensive foster care contracted by DCF (including private agencies and individual foster parents/programs) and insurers that underwrite foster‑care liability.
- Secondary: DCF, the Children’s League of Massachusetts, families of children in foster care, the Office of the Child Advocate, state policymakers and potentially local communities if recommendations require legislative or budgetary action.
Impact and next steps
- The bill does not change insurance liability rules immediately. It creates a time‑limited statutory commission to produce evidence and policy recommendations aimed at reducing insurance‑related burdens on foster‑care providers.
- Implementation depends on the commission’s findings and whether the Legislature adopts any of its proposed statutory or budgetary changes after the October 1, 2025 report.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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