New York bill proposes $200 million fund to help schools pay judgments

ALBANY — State taxpayers will set aside $200 million in a special fund to pay compensation to schools and state-funded child care facilities found at fault in child sexual abuse cases under the landmark Child Victims Act. will be charged a dollar amount.

Nonprofit child care facilities and public schools are facing thousands of claims from adults seeking millions of dollars in compensation through lawsuits and out-of-court settlements under the 2019 law. The law allows survivors to pursue legal action against public and private entities they say were negligent in protecting children in their care from sexual abuse that occurred decades ago. The statute of limitations has been temporarily suspended.

The proposed Child Victims Fund would partially reimburse state-funded schools and nonprofit child care facilities. It is not covered by insurance. Schools and child care facilities would have to prove that the judgment or settlement would “substantially burden the school district’s or agency’s ability to carry out its mission and adversely impact existing populations or services.”

This is an unusually thorny political issue for a lawmaker.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle five years ago championed the Child Victims Act, which would hold child abusers and their employers accountable and provide closure and compensation to victims. But now the claims are growing, threatening the finances of schools and child care facilities whose funding and support have long been a top priority for state legislatures.

So far, no one, including fiscal watchdog groups, has publicly criticized the bill, and the bill itself has not attracted public attention. Republican legislative leaders declined to comment to Newsday on the adequacy of the Democratic bill.

The bill notes that child sex abuse cases have already forced several Catholic dioceses and the Boy Scouts of America into bankruptcy court.

“Hundreds or even dozens of other school districts across the state could find themselves in the same situation,” the bill says, citing the New York State School Boards Association. “Based on industry estimates, voluntary foster care agencies face almost 900 CVA claims, almost 50% of which do not have insurance coverage to pay damages,” the bill goes on to say. Says.

Supporters say the bill is necessary because public schools and child care facilities shouldn’t be forced to close or cut services today because of abuses that happened decades ago. .

“Today’s sixth-graders should not have to atone for the sins of their past,” said Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester), the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate. He said the bill’s support stems from the need for more funding for public schools this year, a top priority for lawmakers in the state budget due by April 1. said.

“We understand the importance of reparations,” Cooney told Newsday. “The question is, at the end of the day, who’s going to pay?”

assemble. Sen. Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) said Long Island school administrators at a recent meeting pointed to the cost of the CVA ruling as a major financial issue. On Wednesday, for example, the Helix Union Free School District reached a tentative settlement with a former student who claims he was repeatedly sexually abused by a school psychologist in the 1980s, according to the judge overseeing the $10 million lawsuit. . The trial of another CVA claim against the Helix School District continues.

A Newsday investigation found that 27 Long Island school districts paid a total of $31.6 million to settle 42 Child Victims Act lawsuits brought by former students. An additional 150 lawsuits are pending.

“It may seem like we’re bailing out the actors, but this is what’s best for the kids in school right now and for the taxpayers,” Thiele told Newsday.

assemble. Assembly lead sponsor Jen Lunsford (D-Perington) said failure to create the fund could negatively impact school services and programs and lead to the closure of child care facilities, and that compensation would include He said more state funding will be needed.

“If they fail, we have to clean it up,” Lunsford said. “I believe that by addressing this issue, we are avoiding significant costs to the state. Today, I hope that the victims are given the justice they deserve without hurting the children.”

Under the bill, only schools and nonprofit organizations that contract with the state without liability insurance would be able to collect state reimbursements. But one of the criticisms of the bill is that it is difficult to prove negative opinions, especially after so many years.

The Coalition for Justice and Compassionate Reparations, a family advocacy group, said the bill’s intentions were laudable, but it needed work. The organization said the bill would allow schools and child care facilities to collect state compensation by declaring, without conclusive evidence, that liability insurance was not in place at the time of the abuse. , he said.

David Catalfamo, one of the group’s directors and a former chief of staff to Republican Gov. George Pataki, said the move meant schools, agencies and even the insurance companies they worked with at the time would have to pay. It is said that it will disappear.

“I think Congress should focus on making sure the insurance industry is part of the solution,” Catalfamo said.

The Insurance Association of New York, an industry group, declined to comment.

Cooney argues that the fund is the best compromise to a difficult situation.

“I don’t think they’re going to let them off the hook just because they acknowledge that wrongdoing took place,” Cooney said.

Meanwhile, schools and children’s homes are “under real pressure as applications are being made on already tight budgets,” Cooney said. “Where do you pull it from? That’s very difficult.”