Foster failure

Skip to main content










ProQuest



Recent Searches


Selected Itemsp

















My Research and Language Selection{












VHelp and support






















 All databases
Change databases


Global Newsstream


Basic Search


Advanced Search


Publications




























































































































































































































1Back to results
4
(previous record)


Document
 7 of 38
-
(next record)








Audit details foster care failures: The state system leaves thousands of children in high-risk situations

Hubbard, Saul. The Register - Guard; Eugene, Or. [Eugene, Or]01 Feb 2018.

Publisher logo. Links to publisher website, opened in a new window.




Full text


Abstract/Details





Hide highlighting



Abstract


Translate
Abstract





























The audit makes a slew of recommendations for improving foster care, many of which would require significant increases in state funding to the Department of Human Services’ child welfare division. In the current system, foster parents are often asked to take on responsibilities that should fall to caseworkers and to house children with debilitating psychological and emotional disorders who would be better served in treatment facilities, the audit said. Since 2011, the number of foster homes in Oregon is down by almost 18 percent, as the state has tried to shift away from “career” foster parents and instead house foster children with relatives. [...]auditors found, agency managers have persisted with an underperforming data tracking system for caseworkers, known as OR-Kids, one of several “substantial reform efforts” that have been “poorly planned and executed.”








LEC



LEC




Full Text


Translate
Full text



































Despite several high-profile scandals and attempts at reform in recent years, Oregon’s foster care system continues to face deep and persistent problems, a new audit from the Secretary Of State’s Office has found.

Oregon doesn’t have enough foster parents, its child welfare workers are severely overworked and often burn out, and agency leaders have chronically failed to take adequate steps to improve the system, the audit said.

That leaves the daily average of 7,600 children in Oregon foster care in constantly shifting and potentially high-risk situations, the audit determined, with the state paying out $39 million in legal settlements since 2006 for cases of child abuse and neglect.

The biting 59-page audit, done over the course of a year, had been a campaign promise from Oregon’s Secretary Of State Dennis Richardson, a former foster parent himself and a longtime critic of the system.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Richardson described the situation as “deplorable.”

“The time for talk is passed,” Richardson said at a press conference on Wednesday. “The time for action is now.”

The audit makes a slew of recommendations for improving foster care, many of which would require significant increases in state funding to the Department of Human Services’ child welfare division.

For example, the audit found that the division needs almost 800 more full-time front-line workers, a 35 percent increase from the current average of 2,200 positions.

Payments to foster parents should be increased to fully cover the cost of raising a child, auditors recommended, potentially an increase of 25 percent.

The state should also provide more support for foster parents, including more short-term placement options to allow them to take a break. In the current system, foster parents are often asked to take on responsibilities that should fall to caseworkers and to house children with debilitating psychological and emotional disorders who would be better served in treatment facilities, the audit said.

Since 2011, the number of foster homes in Oregon is down by almost 18 percent, as the state has tried to shift away from “career” foster parents and instead house foster children with relatives.

While that approach has many benefits, “career” foster homes often have more capacity to take children and serve over an extended period of time.

DHS should also organize and beef up its piecemeal foster parent recruitment efforts, auditors concluded, by using data to target geographic areas and demographic groups that have foster parent shortages.

On the caseworker side, auditors found staggeringly high turnover: about one-third of caseworkers are in their first 18 months on the job.

The agency does not adequately track individual employees’ caseloads, auditors determined, but anecdotal information suggests some are working with three to four times the number of children that would be ideal.

The audit also skewered the child welfare division’s management staff, which has also experienced heavy churn in recent years. Agency leaders have failed to inform state legislators about the extent of their understaffing, to do enough to recruit and retain foster parents, and to “cultivate a culture of transparency, responsibility, and respectful communication.”

Instead, auditors found, agency managers have persisted with an underperforming data tracking system for caseworkers, known as OR-Kids, one of several “substantial reform efforts” that have been “poorly planned and executed.”

In written response, DHS Director Fariborz Pakseresht, who took the helm last September, agreed with most of the auditors’ findings and said the agency has already started to address them.

“While we are responding to many crises articulated in the audit report, we are also building the capacity to deliver sustained outcomes and results,” he wrote.

But Richardson presented the issue in much starker terms, saying Oregon “faces a crossroads” about whether it is willing to truly invest and fix its foster care system after years of failure.

“There’s so much that can be done, at every level,” he said.

Follow Saul Hubbard on Twitter @SaulAHubbard . Email [email protected] .


Word count: 651










LEC



LEC


Copyright RG Media Company Feb 1, 2018















Search this database...Search this database...;Search button



Save as PDF

Cite


9Email


Print

PSave





















































Add to Selected items




























Related items ?






Audit rips child welfare management
Borrud, Hillary. The Oregonian; Portland, Or. [Portland, Or]01 Feb 2018: 1.


Children from border fight in Washington state foster care
Ho, Sally. AP Worldstream; New York [New York]10 June 2018.


Children from border fight in Washington state foster care
Ho, Sally. AP English Language News (includes AP 50 State Report); New York [New York]10 June 2018.


Democrats defend work on foster care
Borrud, Hillary. The Oregonian; Portland, Or. [Portland, Or]07 Feb 2018: 8.


Give counties opportunity to manage child welfare
Statesman Journal; Salem, Or. [Salem, Or]21 Feb 2018: A.1.
Show more related items





Search with indexing terms?





Subject
Press conferences
Parents & parenting
Foster care
Audits
Child welfare
Location
Oregon
Company/organization
Twitter Inc


Search









Chicago Public Library logo








Contact Us
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy

Cookie Preferences

Accessibility
Credits


Copyright © 2018 ProQuest LLC.