Foster Child Contractor Liability for Abuse – Foster Child Abuse Attorneys

In the context a foster care, contractors can be defined as organizations, agencies, or individuals that have agreements or contracts with government entities – the state or local child welfare departments – that provide services involving the care and placement of children in the foster care system. These contractors, although they are not part of the government entity, operate under the oversight of the government entity.

Some of the responsibilities of these contractors may include the following:

• Recruitment and training (more specifically, identifying, screening, and training foster parents to ensure that they meet all applicable state/federal requirements)
• Placement services (or finding suitable placement in foster homes for children who have been removed from unsafe environments and ensuring that foster placements align with each child’s needs)
• Monitoring and support (after placement, overseeing the foster family’s care for the child, conducting visits, and providing ongoing support for the foster family and the foster child)
• Specialized services (which may include offering support for children with special needs, transitional services for older foster youth, therapeutic programs, or behavioral health programs, for example)

In general, these foster care contractors have a responsibility to protect foster children. They must follow strict guidelines and standards of care to ultimately ensure the safety and well-being of children. When these contractors fail to adhere to these standards of care, they can be liable for any resulting harm – especially when their negligence results in harm to the minor.

The negligent placement of foster children can result in extensive physical and psychological harm. Foster children may suffer physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse at the hands of their foster families. Although every situation is different, foster youth may potentially suffer some of the following:

• Fractures, dislocations, sprains, and strains
• Head injuries, concussions, and traumatic brain injuries
• Neck injuries, back injuries, and spinal cord injuries
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Pregnancy and related complications
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Panic, anxiety, fear
• Depression
• And more

As briefly mentioned above, contractors could be held liable if they place a child with a foster family that ends up abusing them and causing any harm. Below, we will review the factors that determine liability in these situations:

• Duty of Care – contractors have the duty to properly screen and monitor foster families both before placement and after placement has been made. This may include subjecting prospective foster families to background checks, home evaluations, random home visits after placement, and more.
• Breach of Duty – contractors fail to perform their duty of care for placement. This may include failing to investigate the family, failing to properly screen families, failing to act of reports of abuse, failing to take red-flags seriously, failing to properly monitor families after placement, etc. In general, this refers to a general oversight that allows any abuse or neglect to happen.
• Causation – the breached duty of care directly leads to the abuse that the foster child suffered (for example, the failure to properly screen the family resulted in the child being placed in a family with someone with a history of crimes against children, leading to the child’s abuse)
• Harm – the foster child suffered physical injuries or psychological injuries.

Yes, you could be entitled to receive compensation. Although every situation is different, you could potentially recover compensation for some of the following:

• Medical expenses
• Lost earnings
• Pain and suffering
• Treble damages
• Punitive damages
• Legal expenses

Our foster child contractor abuse lawsuit lawyers are fully committed to fighting for your rights and helping you recover the maximum payout available for your claim – whether this means negotiating a settlement or taking your claim to trial to reach a verdict. Our lawyers are ready to take on your foster care contractor abuse claim and are ready to do everything necessary to secure the best outcome possible.

How much can I receive? How much is my claim worth? If you have questions about the possible value of your claim and what you could be awarded, contact our team as soon as possible.

Can I file a lawsuit against a negligent foster child contractor? If you have found yourself asking this question or any other question about foster child contractor liability for abuse, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team as soon as possible. Our lawyers have decades of experience and are fully committed to taking care of your claim and helping you secure the best recovery possible.

We believe that every victim of abuse while in foster care deserves justice. To ensure that we remain accessible, our firm offers free case evaluations. These include free consultations and free second opinions. During these free legal services, our experts will be available to answer your questions, address all your concerns, and essentially provide you with all the information that you need to start or continue your lawsuit. If you would like to schedule a free case review, contact us at your earliest convenience.

Zero-Fee Guarantee – you will never be responsible for paying upfront legal fees for any of our legal services. Additionally, our team works on a strict contingency structure, so our clients will actually not be responsible for paying legal costs if their claims are not successful. If you do not win, you will not have to pay anything.

Our foster care contractor lawsuit lawyers are more than ready to fight for your rights!