Oakland Foster Home Abuse Lawyer

Approximately 800,000 children come in contact with the foster care system each year. Sadly, some people become foster parents to receive money from the state, not to provide a caring, loving household for a child. Inexcusably, the government sometimes doesn’t do the proper background checks and investigation before placing a child into a foster home. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has acknowledged that the system is a mess. Unfortunately, it is the child who ends up suffering from physical and sexual abuse.

Many children wind up with serious physical injuries and lifelong emotional damage. Even though sometimes, foster home abuse is not discovered or reported right away, a victim can bring a lawsuit against an abuser even as an adult. There have been several recent large verdicts in foster home abuse cases in California and around the country.

If you are a survivor of foster home abuse, the Oakland foster home abuse lawyers at Venardi Zurada, LLP, can help you bring a case against your abuser and the state. Even if many years have passed since you experienced the abuse, our Oakland foster care abuse lawyers can help you receive the compensation you deserve for the state’s negligence and the abuse you endured.

California’s Child Sexual Abuse Law

Civil lawsuits are generally subject to certain time limits, known as the “statute of limitations.” For example, most personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years after the date of the accident that caused the injury. Child abuse, however, poses a unique problem. Because the victims are children, there are many reasons why the abuse might not be discovered until many years after it occurs. Children might not understand that they are being abused, or they may be too afraid or ashamed to report the abuse to authority figures. For those reasons, California law provides a special time frame for child abuse victims and their families to seek justice through a civil lawsuit.

California passed a new law in 2019 to grant victims of child sexual abuse more time to file claims against their abusers. The law was passed in response to widespread allegations of abuse of minors by Catholic priests, as well as the 2018 conviction of a U.S. Olympic coach for molesting young athletes. Under the prior law, survivors of sexual assault were permitted to file a claim within eight years of reaching adulthood (turning 18 years old), or within three years of the date that they “discovered or reasonably should have discovered” that they suffered damage as a child, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

Under the new law, survivors of sexual abuse as a child can bring a civil claim until they reach age 40, and the period for delayed reasonable discovery has been extended from three years to five years. The following claims can be brought with the extended time period:

• Actions against a person who committed child sexual abuse
• Actions against a person or entity who owed the child a duty of care and whose negligence caused or permitted the child to be abused
• Actions against a person or entity whose intentional act led to the child being sexually abused

If you were the victim of sexual abuse in a foster home or otherwise as a child, you now have additional time to bring a claim against the responsible parties. If you are under 40 years old, or if you only recalled or discovered the abuse within the past five years, then you are still eligible for recovery. Let an experienced and effective Oakland foster care abuse lawyer help you bring your abusers to justice.

Fighting Against All Forms of Abuse

The Oakland foster home abuse lawyers at Venardi Zurada are passionate about securing justice for people who were the victims of any form of abuse as a child. You have the right to seek compensation for the harm you suffered from the person or persons who committed the abuse, as well as parties whose negligence caused the abuse to occur. If the State of California, or a state or municipal foster care agency, should have known that you did suffer or were likely to suffer abuse, and they failed to protect you, they must be held accountable for that failure.

Most physical abuse claims can be brought within two years of the victim turning 18 years old. Cases against government entities must generally be brought sooner. Speak with a compassionate and knowledgeable Oakland foster home abuse lawyer to discuss your case and learn how you can seek justice and compensation for your physical and emotional damage.

Help from a Dedicated and Understanding Oakland Foster Home Abuse Lawyer

If you suffered from abuse in a foster home, or if someone you care about has suffered or is still exposed to abuse while in foster care, the zealous and passionate Oakland foster home abuse lawyers at Venardi Zurada, LLP, can help you get the justice and closure that you deserve. Whether the abuse is ongoing or happened years in the past, you have the right to hold abusers accountable for the unforgivable harm they have caused. Call our Oakland foster care abuse legal team at 833-893-6763 or contact us online to arrange a free consultation.

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