HJ0024 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0024 LRB104 12903 MST 24408 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) partners with community-based organizations to provide foster care services for nearly 70% of the youth in care, over 13,000 children, in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, To contract with the State to provide these vital services, foster care providers are required to maintain adequate liability insurance, but foster care agencies are struggling to get quality and effective liability insurance coverage and are unable to continue providing these vital services to the youth and families under their care; and

WHEREAS, The remaining two major insurance carriers have publicly announced that they will not be writing any new policies in 2025 and will be renewing existing policies on a case-by-case basis with many providers renewing at exorbitant increases to premiums and significant reductions in coverage; and

WHEREAS, Without a viable alternative for liability insurance, foster care agencies are preparing to transfer hundreds of foster youth to DCFS; and

WHEREAS, Under normal circumstances, DCFS is able to transition services to another agency when a foster care provider discontinues providing services; and

WHEREAS, Without certainty that insurance coverage will be renewed, DCFS will be unable to transition services to another agency unable to absorb foster youth and/or families from other agencies without significantly jeopardizing their own coverage; and

WHEREAS, Foster care agencies will be forced to scale back or discontinue foster care services entirely due to inaccessible liability insurance coverage as there are currently no State plans for transition services for the thousands of already trauma-exposed children in the system; and

WHEREAS, The foster care system will experience disruptions that will result in the transfer of foster youth to the direct supervision of DCFS, increased lengths of stay for foster youth, loss of foster families, and additional budgetary constraints on DCFS and any remaining foster care agencies; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Child Welfare Agency Liability Task Force is created to develop and recommend a permanent solution to address the unavailability of liability insurance for child welfare agencies in the State; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall consist of the following members, who shall serve without compensation:

(1) The Director of Department of Insurance or his or her designee, who shall serve as chair;

(2) One member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House;

(3) One member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Minority Leader of the House;

(4) One member of the Senate appointed by the Senate President;

(5) One member of the Senate appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate;

(6) The Director of the Department of Children and Family Services or his or her designee;

(7) One representative from the insurance industry with expertise in liability coverage appointed by the Governor;

(8) One representative from a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of Illinois attorneys appointed by the Governor; and

(9) One representative from a statewide organization that advocates on behalf of the community-based services for children and families appointed by the Governor; and be it further

RESOLVED, That initial appointments to the Task Force shall be made no more than three months after adoption of this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That if a vacancy occurs in the Task Force membership, it shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Insurance and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services shall provide administrative support for the Task Force; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall hold its first meeting within 30 days after all Task Force members have been appointed and then on a monthly basis thereafter; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall submit its final report to the General Assembly no later than December 31, 2026, and upon filing of the report, the Task Force is dissolved; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Speaker of the House, the Minority Leader of the House, the Senate President, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Director of Department of Insurance, the Director of Children and Family Services, and the Governor.