ICOY Champion Bill HB762 Passes the House!

General Assembly Advances Bill to Survey Insurance Companies on Child Welfare Liability Practices, Costs, and Coverage

Soaring premiums divert funding from children’s services and threaten the community-based child welfare infrastructure 

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Collaboration on Youth (ICOY) applauds the advancement of the Child Welfare Liability Insurance Survey Act (HB762 HA2), which passed out of the the House today. Chief Co-sponsor Rep. Suzanne Ness led a bipartisan effort toward solving the dual problems of affordability and accessibility of liability insurance coverage for community-based child welfare providers. 

Over the past several years, insurance premiums for liability coverage have risen dramatically, and some insurers have even withdrawn completely from the market, declining to offer liability coverage for foster care and adoption services. A report released this summer entitled Insuring Care: How Liability Insurance Access Threatens Community Services For Children, helped to shed light on this nationwide problem. 

“We are grateful to the leadership of Rep. Ness and all the House co-sponsors for advancing this important legislation,” said Andrea Durbin, Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth. “Community child welfare organizations cannot afford to pay more for less coverage. Costs are rising unsustainably even when providers have no claims history at all, diverting funds away from services to children and families.” 

HB762 directs the Illinois Department of Insurance to conduct a comprehensive survey of liability insurance practices for community-based foster care and adoption providers, including coverage, conditions, exclusions, limits of liability, and premiums for both the licensed and excess and surplus carriers in Illinois. The survey will also look at cost drivers and efforts other states have taken to mitigate the challenges in liability insurance. 

Chief Co-sponsors Sen. Laura Fine and Sen. Lakesia Collins stand ready to move the bill in the Senate. 

“The fact that this legislation is moving during a veto session filled with high priority bills underscores the urgent need to tackle this problem,” Durbin said. “We are thankful that Speaker Welch and President Harmon both understand that.”

For questions about this bill or any other ICOY legislative initiative, please contact ICOY CEO Andrea Durbin at adurbin@icoyouth.org.

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ICOY champions the safety, well-being, and success of all Illinois’ children, youth, and families by connecting and strengthening the organizations that serve them and by being a collective voice for policy and practice.