Beverly Hills Foster Care Sexual Abuse Attorney

How We Value a Foster Care Sexual Abuse Case in California

California counties and licensed foster family agencies have paid substantial settlements in foster care sexual abuse cases where a documented pattern of prior complaints was ignored before a child was placed or left in a dangerous home. At Compass Law Group, our attorneys have recovered more than $250 million for survivors across California, and we bring that same rigorous, evidence-based approach to every foster care sexual abuse case we accept.

Valuing your case begins with a complete accounting of every loss you have suffered — and every loss you will continue to suffer. California law allows survivors to recover compensatory damages covering therapy and ongoing mental health treatment, past and future medical expenses, and lost earnings or diminished earning capacity as an adult. Emotional distress and pain and suffering add a separate, uncapped layer of recovery. When a county or agency knew or should have known about the danger and failed to act, California Civil Code Section 3294 authorizes punitive damages that can dwarf the underlying compensatory award.

Because most foster care sexual abuse occurs while the survivor is a minor, AB 218 eliminates the statute of limitations entirely for the vast majority of these claims — there is no filing deadline. For survivors abused as older teens whose claims may implicate different timing rules, or who reached adulthood without realizing a claim was still viable, the AB 2777 revival window remains open only through December 31, 2026.

Compensatory Damages: Calculating the True Cost

Compensatory damages in a California foster care abuse case divide into two categories: economic and non-economic. Economic damages are calculable losses supported by documentary evidence. Non-economic damages reflect harms that resist a simple dollar figure but are fully compensable under California law.

Economic damages in foster care abuse cases commonly include:

• Past and future therapy costs — Trauma-focused therapy, EMDR, psychiatric care, and medication management, often needed for a lifetime given the compounded trauma of abuse combined with family separation.
• Educational and developmental setbacks — Documented learning disruption, placement instability, and lost educational opportunity directly tied to the abuse and its aftermath.
• Lost wages and income as an adult — Time lost during disclosure, depositions, and trial, or due to lasting trauma responses that impair consistent employment.
• Lost earning capacity — When abuse causes long-term psychological impairment that reduces a survivor’s ability to work at full capacity, California law allows recovery for the lifetime difference in earnings.

We do not estimate economic damages. We document and substantiate every line item using DCFS case files, therapist invoices, school records, and retained forensic economic experts.

Non-Economic Damages: Pain, Suffering, and Emotional Distress

California law recognizes that the most devastating consequences of foster care sexual abuse cannot be measured by invoices alone. Non-economic damages compensate for the full human cost of being violated by the very system meant to protect you after your own family could not.

• Pain and suffering — Physical pain, discomfort, and the ongoing bodily experience of trauma
• Emotional distress — Anxiety, depression, PTSD, attachment disruption, and the compounded psychological injury of being abused in a placement meant to provide safety
• Loss of enjoyment of life — The documented impact of the abuse on relationships, stability, and capacity for well-being into adulthood
• Loss of consortium — Harm to a survivor’s later family and intimate relationships caused by the trauma response

California places no cap on non-economic damages in sexual abuse civil cases. Juries and arbitrators in these cases regularly return substantial verdicts because the foster placement relationship carries a state-imposed duty of protection that the abuser and the responsible institution both betrayed.

Punitive Damages: Holding Agencies and Counties Financially Accountable

When a foster family agency or county knew or should have known that a foster home or group home was dangerous — and failed to act — California Civil Code Section 3294 authorizes punitive damages against the agency. These damages are not calculated from your individual losses. They are designed to punish the institution and deter the pattern of negligent placement and inadequate oversight that allows dangerous homes to keep receiving children.

Punitive damages become available when we can establish by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. In institutional foster care cases, this means demonstrating one or more of the following:

• Prior complaints about the foster home or group home were received and ignored
• Licensing violations were documented but the placement continued unchanged
• Social workers or supervisors were informed of misconduct and chose inaction
• Home study or re-licensing procedures were rushed or falsified to fill placement quotas
• The agency or county failed to conduct legally required visitation and welfare checks

Counties and licensed agencies carry significant financial exposure when this evidence exists, because a documented pattern of institutional knowledge and deliberate inaction is precisely the conduct California’s punitive damages statute is designed to punish and deter.

AB 218 and AB 2777: California’s Expanded Recovery Windows

California leads the nation in legislative protection for survivors of institutional sexual abuse. Two landmark statutes directly govern the recovery window available to foster care abuse victims.

AB 218 (2019) eliminated the statute of limitations entirely for civil claims involving childhood sexual abuse. Because nearly every foster care placement involves a minor, this statute applies to the overwhelming majority of foster care abuse survivors — there is no filing deadline, regardless of how many years have passed.

AB 2777 (2022) created a limited revival window for adult survivors whose claims may have been previously time-barred, including survivors abused as older teens where timing questions exist. This revival window closes permanently on December 31, 2026. Survivors who have not yet spoken with an attorney are working against a hard statutory deadline.

Both statutes operate entirely independently of any dependency court proceeding, criminal prosecution, or licensing investigation. The civil track belongs entirely to the survivor and can proceed regardless of how any other proceeding concludes.

How Compass Law Group Builds and Maximizes Case Value

“Foster care abuse cases require us to reconstruct a child welfare file that the county did not build with litigation in mind,” says a Compass Law Group senior attorney. “What determines case value is what the county and the agency knew, when they knew it, and how many children were left in that home after the first warning sign. We investigate every layer.”

Our case valuation methodology reflects more than $250 million in California recoveries and includes the following:

• Full DCFS and licensing record review — We obtain case files, licensing histories, and home study documentation through the Public Records Act and litigation discovery to establish institutional knowledge.
• Forensic expert retention at intake — We retain psychiatric experts and forensic economists before the first demand is sent.
• Institutional investigation — We issue litigation holds, subpoena agency and county records, and depose social workers, supervisors, and agency administrators.
• Multi-defendant strategy — We evaluate claims against the foster family, the FFA, and the county simultaneously, since each may carry independent insurance and liability.
• Punitive damages analysis from day one — If the facts support a punitive damages claim, we build that case in parallel with compensatory damages from the moment of intake.

If you were sexually abused in a California foster placement, group home, or STRTP, you are entitled to a full, confidential accounting of what your case may be worth and what California law allows you to recover. Contact our Beverly Hills office today for a free, confidential consultation.