An Act To Protect Maine Foster and Adoptive Parents
Maine Legislature, Session 122, LD 1108
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: VAUGHAN
Amends: 18-A MRSA §9, 22 MRSA §8101, 22 MRSA §8108

Legislative Document 
No. 1108 
H.P.761 
House of Representati ves, March 1, 2005 
An Act To Protect Maine Foster and Adoptive Parents 
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative VAUGHAN of Durham. 
Printed on Tel:yded paper 
'I7l~ /J7.11!dC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRS A §1728-A, sub-§l. as amended by PL 1993, c. 470, 
§l, is further amended by amending the first paragraph to read: 
1. 
Duties. 
The director shall provide insurance advice and 
services for all forms of insurance for State Government and any 
department 
or 
agency 
of 
State 
Government 
except 
for 
those 
departments or agencies and those types of insurance otherwise 
provided for by law through the self-insurance fund and to other 
enti ties designated as entitled to advice and services through 
the 
state-administered 
fund 
pursuant 
to 
section 
1737. 
~n~ 
director shall provide insurance services for foster parents and 
adoptive parents 
p~rsuant to section l73S. 
The 
director is 
responsible 
for 
the 
acquisition 
and 
administration 
of 
all 
insurance purchased by the State, 
including the authority to 
purchase insurance for the State for automobile, fire, liability 
and any other type of coverage necessary to protect the State 
from financial loss. The director may enter into contracts for 
various types of claims management services in order to ensure 
the most economically advantageous insurance protection ln the 
operation of the State's insurance coverage program. 
In these 
regards, the director has the following duties: 
Sec. 2. 5 MRS A §1738 is enacted to read: 
§1738. 
Foster and ado~ive p~%ent liability insurance 
The 
director 
shall 
acquire 
and 
administer 
a 
liability 
insurance policy for fosteL-Parents and for adoptive parents who 
receive state adoption assistance pursuant to Title IS-A, section 
9-401. For the purposes of this section, "foster parent" means a 
person maintaining a family foster home, as defined in Title 22, 
section SIal, subs~io~~~~erson maintaining a specialized 
children's home, as defin~d in Title 22, section SIal, subsection 
5. 
The 
liability 
insuran~olicy must 
include, 
but is 
not 
limited to, coverage for personal injury and for defense against 
claims that arise directly out of the insured's activities as a 
foster parent or adoptive parent. 
Th~ insurance premium for this 
policy 
must 
be 
deducted 
annually 
from 
the 
foster 
parent's 
reimbursement for foster care and 
from the adoptive parent's 
adoption assistance payment. 
Sec.3. 18-A MRSA §9-315. sub-§(d) is enacted to read: 
(d) 
Notwi thstandinL1?~ct.tQn 9-105, an adoptive parent may 
not be required to pay child support for an~dQpted child if the 
4S 
Probate Court has annulled the decree of adoption for that child. 
Page l-LROS35(1) 
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Sec. 4. 18-A MRSA §9-405 is enacted to read: 
S9-405. Liability insurance 
Adoptive parents who receive assistance under the program 
shall have liability insurance pursuant to Title 5, section 1738. 
Sec. 5. 22 MRSA §8101, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1999, c. 392, 
§4 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
3. 
Family 
foster 
home. 
"Family 
foster 
home" 
means 
a 
children's home, other than an Indian foster family home, that is 
a private dwelling where substitute parental care is provided 
wi thin a family on a regular, 24-hour a day, residential basis. 
The total number of children in care may not exceed 6, including 
the family's legal children under 16 years of age, with no more 
than 2 of these children under the age of 2. 
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Sec. 6. 22 MRSA §8108 is enacted to read: 
S8l08. 
Liability insurance 
L 
Family foster homes. 
Family foster homes licensed by 
the Department of Heal th and Human Services or relatives' homes 
approved 
by 
the 
Department 
of 
Health 
and 
Human 
Services 
as 
meeting licensing standards are eligible for insurance pursuant 
to Title 5, section l728-A. In any action for damages against a 
family foster home provider insured pursuant to Title 5, section 
l728-A, for damages covered under that policy, the claim for and 
award of those damages, 
including costs and interest, may not 
exceed $300, OO~QX any and 
a:lL~Jjl.jms arisin~ut of a single 
occurrence. 
When the amount awarded to or settled for multiple 
claimants exceeds the limit imposed by this section, any party 
may apply to the Superior Court for the county in which the 
governmental entjty is located to allocate to each claimant that 
claimant's equitable share of the totaL limited as required by 
this section. 
Any award by the court in excess of the maximum 
liability limit must be automatically abated by operation of this 
section to 
the 
maximum limit of liability. 
Nothing in this 
subsection may be deemed to make the operation of a family foster 
home a state activity nor may it expand in any way the liability 
of the State or foster parent. 
A person who maintains a family 
foster home shall have liability insurance pursuant to Title 5, 
section 1738. 
2. 
Specialized children's homes. 
A person who maintains a 
specialized 
children's 
home 
shall 
have 
liability 
insurance 
pursuant to Title 5, section 1738. 
SUMMARY 
This bill requires 
the State to 
administer 
a 
liability 
insurance policy for certain foster and adoptive parents. 
The 
requirement applies to foster parents who maintain family foster 
homes and to foster parents who maintain specialized children's 
homes for children with special needs, and it applies to adoptive 
parents who receive state adoption assistance for children with 
special 
needs. 
The 
required liability insurance must 
include 
coverage for personal injury and for legal defense against claims 
made against the foster or adoptive parent. The bill specifies 
that the cost of the insurance premium must be paid annually by 
the 
foster 
parent 
through 
a 
deduction 
from 
the 
foster 
care 
reimbursement payment and must be paid annually by the adoptive 
.16 
parent through a deduction from the adoption assistance payment. 
The bill also prohibits the State from requiring any adoptive 
parent to pay child support after an adoption is annulled by the 
court. 
..