Bittersweet Justice: California

“A Sonoma County jury leveled an approximately $25 million verdict against a private foster care company accused of endangering vulnerable foster children under its care.

Lead trial attorney Scott R. Montgomery, a shareholder at Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery, successfully obtained the historic judgment on December 1, 2023, against Alternative Family Services, Inc. in Sonoma County Superior Court. The result is believed to be one of the largest non-punitive damages verdicts in the county’s history.

The case centered around the abuse suffered by three minor foster children in a licensed foster care home operated by Alternative Family Services, Inc. from April 16, 2018, through June 25, 2018.

“The evidence showed, and the jury agreed, that in this case, the company did not do what it needed to do to keep these foster children safe. We must do better, as a society, to protect vulnerable children who cannot protect themselves in circumstances such as this,” said Scott R. Montgomery.

The perpetrator, foster father Mark Martinez, was convicted of numerous counts of sexual abuse against the children and is currently serving a life sentence in prison for his crimes.

The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit alleging negligence on the part of Alternative Family Services, Inc. in approving the foster home, placing the children in the home, and supervising their care.

Alternative Family Services, Inc. operates foster homes, according to its website, throughout many counties in the Bay Area, placing children in foster homes in exchange for payment from local governments. In this case, the agency received about $8,400.00 per month from Sonoma County for the 70-day period during which the children were in the abusive home of which about ½ went to the foster parents and the other ½ went to the company.

The trial revealed significant inconsistencies and issues in the foster home’s approval process for the foster parents. Some of the negligent acts revealed at trial include questionnaires with red flag omissions from the foster father regarding a history of mental illness, sexual abuse, and alcohol abuse, failure to conduct required foster parent interviews before approval, and other errors and omissions including violations of CDSS regulations, policies, procedures, and the standard of care.

The evidence also showed that Alternative Family Services, Inc. placed children who only spoke English into a foster home where the primary language was Spanish. Despite the foster mother expressing her inability to provide proper care to the company, due to this language issue, the company took no corrective actions.

The evidence also showed that Alternative Family Services, Inc. did not conduct unannounced visits to the home and had no documented conversations with the foster father (the sexual abuser) during the entire period of abuse.

Alternative Family Services, Inc. denied all claims, asserting non-negligence and contending that the total damages for the victims the jury should award, which should be chargeable 100% against Mark Martinez the company contended, were less than $3,000,000.00 for all three child victims, combined.

The jury, however, rejected Alternative Family Services, Inc.’s arguments. After an approximately two-month trial, the jury found the company negligent, attributing 60% of the fault for the sexual abuse of the children to Alternative Family Services, Inc. The total damages awarded for the three victims amounted to just under $25,000,000.00, decisively rejecting the company’s claims of non-negligence and proposed less than $3,000,000.00 total damages.

“No amount of money can repair the damage inflicted upon these children, but this verdict sends a powerful message that those responsible for placing children in harm’s way will be held accountable. We hope that companies like Alternative Family Services, Inc. are more careful next time as a result of this verdict,” added Montgomery.”
Abbey Law Secures Nearly $25 Million Jury Verdict Holding Foster Care Agency Accountable for Endangering Foster Children
[PR Newswire 12/14/23 by Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery P.C]