Oregon's foster care system will take time to fix

If Oregonians were expecting to see problems in the state's foster care system disappear overnight, they're in for a disappointment. As the Department of Human Services' July report on child welfare demonstrates, some things are improving; others, not so much.


More >> Oregon's foster care system will take time to fix

Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon’s child welfare agency are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, after settlement talks failed to produce a resolution earlier this summer.

In April, a national advocacy group and Disability Rights Oregon filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 10 children in state foster care ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years old. They accused the state of violating the children’s rights guaranteed by federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.

More >> Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon’s child welfare agency are asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the state’s foster care system, after settlement talks failed to produce a resolution earlier this summer.

In April, a national advocacy group and Disability Rights Oregon filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 10 children in state foster care ranging in age from 18 months to 17 years old. They accused the state of violating the children’s rights guaranteed by federal laws and the U.S. Constitution.

More >> Oregon officials ask judge to dismiss federal foster care lawsuit

‘Foster dad begged for custody of girl, 7, he said was in danger then raped her’

Eric Schrecengost, 37, was arrested Tuesday in Keizer, Oregon for allegedly raping and sexually abusing the girl. The Oregon Department of Human Services and Child Welfare placed the girl in Schrecengost’s custody last year after he filed a motion for temporary custody due to immediate danger.

More >> ‘Foster dad begged for custody of girl, 7, he said was in danger then raped her’

• Man accused of sexually abusing girl Oregon child welfare workers put in his custody

Utah Facility Housing Oregon Foster Youth To Close After Reports Of Abuse

An out-of-state treatment facility that houses Oregon foster children is shutting down as it faces numerous reports of serious safety concerns.

Red Rock Canyon School, in St. George, Utah, was the site of an intense brawl and faces accusations of staff assaults of students. The school, owned by Sequel Youth and Family Services, will close at the end of summer.

More >> Utah Facility Housing Oregon Foster Youth To Close After Reports Of Abuse

Second child welfare worker accused of having sex in front of child no longer employed

The second Dallas-based child welfare worker accused of having sex in front of a minor is no longer employed by the state, Salem Reporter has learned.

Kate Guy is gone from the state Department of Human Services, an agency spokesman said Wednesday. Spokesman Jake Sunderland declined to say whether she quit or was fired.

More >> Second child welfare worker accused of having sex in front of child no longer employed

Oregon caseworkers accused of sex in presence of foster child: 1 has resigned, 1 no longer being paid

A pair of Oregon child welfare workers accused of having sex in the presence of a foster child they were supposed to care for during an overnight hotel stay are no longer being paid by the state, and one has resigned.

Mark Walsh, a child welfare supervisor in the Department of Human Services’ Dallas office, quit on June 28, effective immediately, according to department spokesman Jake Sunderland.

More >> Oregon caseworkers accused of sex in presence of foster child: 1 has resigned, 1 no longer being paid

Former head of foster care agency sent to federal prison for nearly 3 years for embezzling more than $1 million

A judge Friday sentenced a Portland woman to two years and nine months in federal prison for stealing more than $1 million from an Oregon foster agency that she had led as president and executive director.

Mary Ayala, 59, who ran the private foster care agency Give Us This Day from 2008 through 2015, was found guilty of multiple counts of theft, money laundering and filing false personal income tax returns after an eight-day trial in February.

More >> Former head of foster care agency sent to federal prison for nearly 3 years for embezzling more than $1 million

Oregon may close loophole that sent foster children to live with dangerous dads

Oregon child welfare workers will have to look for red flags before sending foster children to live with estranged parents as part of a proposal working its way through the Oregon Capitol.

Senate Bill 994 would require case workers at the Department of Human Services to check into criminal pasts of noncustodial parents and the adults they live with before placing a child in their home.

More >> Oregon may close loophole that sent foster children to live with dangerous dads

Family says DHS 'stripped' mom, daughter of rights in battle against cancer

A group of family members and supporters gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square Saturday calling for a Wilsonville girl and her mother to be reunited after the Department of Human Services (DHS) recently took the girl into protective custody.

Kylee Dixon and her mother, Christine, were reported missing earlier this week. Clackamas County Deputies say Christine ignored a court order to bring Kylee to DHS. Deputies told KATU News Kylee missed a surgery scheduled for June 6th.

More >> Family says DHS 'stripped' mom, daughter of rights in battle against cancer

When children die on Oregon’s watch, state officials may soon have to say more about what went wrong

Oregon lawmakers are on the verge of requiring officials at the state’s embattled child welfare agency to inform the public more quickly and thoroughly when children die by abuse after recent intervention -- or inaction -- by their department.

Under the new mandate, the Department of Human Services would have to notify the public about a child’s abuse or neglect death soon after case workers learn how the child died. It also would impose stricter standards for the details the agency must disclose about the child’s death.

More >> When children die on Oregon’s watch, state officials may soon have to say more about what went wrong

Editorial: Oregon foster care still isn’t where it needs to be

In January 2018 the Oregon secretary of state released a scathing audit of the state Department of Human Services’ child foster care program. Now, 18 months later, a follow-up report says things are better but still not good enough.

More >> Editorial: Oregon foster care still isn’t where it needs to be

• Oregon Foster Care Gets Another Rough Audit
• Consultants step on the pedal to speed up Oregon's fixes for foster kid system

Oregon's foster care system remains in crisis, $1 million consultants brought in

Workers assigned to manage the state’s treatment of foster kids still have too much on their plates, according to an audit report released by Secretary of State Bev Clarno. To drive reforms more quickly, Gov. Kate Brown is paying an outside consulting firm $1 million to help.

More >> Oregon's foster care system remains in crisis, $1 million consultants brought in

State report: Foster care system will take years to fix

A year and a half ago, state watchdogs said the system overseeing care for Oregon's foster kids was in dire need of improvement.

They urged immediate improvements, but a new report released by state auditors Wednesday said the state is still risking children’s safety in a system so dysfunctional it will take years to fix.

More >> State report: Foster care system will take years to fix

Flaws in Oregon’s child welfare system still place children at risk, review finds

Heavy workloads, a foster home shortage and failures to meet safety protocols within Oregon’s child welfare system continue to place children at risk, state auditors concluded in a report released Wednesday.

The reviewers checked on progress made by the Department of Human Services in the year since an extensive audit revealed widespread dysfunction that had been left unresolved for years. A central finding of the 2018 audit was that state officials repeatedly embarked on improvement efforts, only to ultimately abandon them.

More >> Flaws in Oregon’s child welfare system still place children at risk, review finds

• As Washington Pulls Foster Kids From Facility, Oregon Children Remain

DHS: Long child abuse hotline wait times due to low funding, unwillingness to cut workers

Gov. Kate Brown, D-Oregon, recently answered tough questions about a story KATU broke regarding the state's child abuse hotline.

"The wait times are absolutely unacceptable for our mandatory reporters," she said.

More >> DHS: Long child abuse hotline wait times due to low funding, unwillingness to cut workers

Oregon moved 2 young sisters into foster home, then sent 13-year-old abuser to live with them, $24 million lawsuit alleges

Oregon child welfare officials ignored eight years of warnings when they moved a 13-year-old boy with a history of abusing younger children into the same overcrowded foster home as two young sisters, according to new court documents.

At the time, case workers labeled the boy a “risk” and wrote that they planned to move the girls, then 5 and 7, out as soon as possible. Yet the three remained in the same home for two months, and during that time, the boy repeatedly locked the girls inside rooms and sexually abused them, a lawsuit contends.

More >> Oregon moved 2 young sisters into foster home, then sent 13-year-old abuser to live with them, $24 million lawsuit alleges

Officials: Oregon foster child was assaulted at Utah program

An Oregon foster child was among more than 20 teenagers injured during a riot last week at the Red Rock Canyon School in St. George, Utah.

But that wasn’t the first problem experienced by Oregon children at the facility.

Another Oregon foster child sent to Red Rock was physically assaulted by program staff, a state child welfare official and state senator said on Tuesday.

More >> Officials: Oregon foster child was assaulted at Utah program

Guns Drawn On Oregon Foster Care Children In Out-Of-State Facility In April

A brawl last month at Red Rock Canyon School in St. George, Utah, which housed 24 Oregon foster care children, started with two young people in the courtyard and broke out across campus, Child Welfare officials told Oregon lawmakers at a hearing Tuesday.

A SWAT team arrived at the facility guns drawn.

More >> Guns Drawn On Oregon Foster Care Children In Out-Of-State Facility In April

Governor already named one foster child commission, but now pushes another as Oregon crisis mounts

The 80-year-old state library is a hulking, marble box of a building whose tall, narrow windows resemble the slots in an electrical outlet.

One day last summer, it was the unlikely setting for a reckoning over efforts to reform the state’s foster care system.

More >> Governor already named one foster child commission, but now pushes another as Oregon crisis mounts