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Reason Children are Removed
Children are often removed from their homes and placed in out-of-home care for multiple reasons. However, if the most serious reason were identified for each of the children removed, the following profile would characterize children entering care between 1991 and 1993.
Level of Vulnerability
State Office for Services to Families and Children has formalized a child welfare priority system known as the level of vulnerability. This system, which replaces an informal prioritization system in each branch office, assures workers provide services to the more vulnerable children and recognizes the level of service provided in each branch office. SOSCF administration, program managers, and researchers created the level of vulnerability system in 1990. There are seven levels in the system. Level 1 includes the most severe abuse and neglect cases: life threatening neglect, abandoned or orphaned children, siblings of children who have died from abuse or neglect, severe familial sexual abuse, and severe physical abuse. The least vulnerable children are identified as Level 7: chronic acting-out teenagers, adolescents exposed to chronic neglect, teenage victims of mild physical abuse, court ordered services where no abuse has occurred, and voluntary requests for services where abuse, neglect, and threat of harm are not apparent. Younger and more vulnerable children are in the higher levels of vulnerability (levels 1-3); older children, better able to protect themselves from moderate and mild abuse, are assigned to the lower levels of the system (levels 4-7).
Child's Problems
Children and youth entering the foster care system exhibit a variety of troubling behaviors and suffer from myriad of physical and mental problems. The following table contains a list of the child's problems most often cited by case workers.
Family Factors
Parents who abuse or neglect their children are themselves often burdened by a host of problems known as family factors. The table below contains the 10 most prevelant problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.
Most Prevelent Barriers in Clackamas County
Barriers are problems or conditions that a caseworker identifies as requiring some resolution before a child can be returned home.
Services Provided to Children and Families in Clackamas County
Clackamas County Summary
About 220 children each year from Clackamas County enter substitute care and stay in care for two weeks. Seventy-three cases of children entering care between 1991 and mid-1993 were randomly selected and reviewed by researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University. A profile of children entering substitute care in Clackamas County is compared to the state profile for the following: Reason for entry into care, severity of the abuse, problems of the children, problems of the parents, barriers to returning children home, services offered to the parents and children, return home rate, and reabuse rate. The most common reasons children enter foster care in Oregon are physical abuse, neglect, treatment issues of the child, parental absence, and sexual abuse. Treatment issues of the child, physical abuse, and sexual abuse are the most common reasons children enter care in Clackamas County. Treatment issues of the child and parental absence are more common in Clackamas County than elsewhere in Oregon; neglect tends to be less prevalent in Clackamas County. Treatment issues of the child are generally children beyond parental control and children exhibiting behaviors requiring residential treatment. Parental absence includes parents who are incarcerated and parents who leave their children with babysitters and do not return when expected.. The level of vulnerability system contains seven levels; level 1 cases are the most severe instances of abuse/neglect while level 7 cases are the least severe. The level of vulnerability system considers numerous factors including severity of abuse and age of the child. More children are identified as level 3 in Clackamas County (38%) and in Oregon (43%) than any other level. Other common levels of vulnerability in Oregon include level 1 (19%), level 5 (11%) and level 7 (11%). In Clackamas County, level 3 is the most common level followed by level 7 (21%). In general, Clackamas County's estimates parallel the state's estimates with the exception of level 7; a higher proportion of level 7 children entered care between 1991 and mid-1993 than elsewhere in Oregon. Services to level 7 children have been shifted to the Commission for Children and Families from SOSCF in the last few years. Most children entering foster care exhibit behaviors after being abused or neglected. Children entering care in Clackamas County tend to exhibit more behaviors than elsewhere in Oregon. The most common child's problems in Clackamas County include criminal involvement (39%), out of parental control (34%), victims of sexual abuse (33%), and angry/aggressive behavior (25%). Criminal involvement, drug/alcohol involvement, depression, emotional disturbance, and mental condition are more common in the children entering care in Clackamas County than in other counties. Most children enter foster care after being abused by their parents. These same parents often exhibit problems known as family factors. The most prevalent family factors in Clackamas County include drug/alcohol involvement (59%), poor parenting skills (45%), and single parenthood (41%). Families with children entering care in Clackamas County tend to have similar problems as parents being served by SOSCF throughout Oregon. Although the Clackamas County profile for family factors is similar to the Oregon profile, history of being abusive to children is slightly more common in Clackamas County while unemployment tends to be slightly less common in Clackamas County. Family problems that contribute to a child's placement in foster care can also be barriers to returning children home. Barriers are family problems that should be addressed before a child is returned home. Most barriers identified in Clackamas County are similar to those identified elsewhere in Oregon; this implies the parental problems that prevent children from returning home in Clackamas County are also common throughout Oregon. Although drug/alcohol involvement (30%) is the most prevalent barrier in Clackamas County, drug/alcohol involvement is more common in other Oregon counties (38%). There is a large array of services provided by communities and SOSCF to help families resolve problems and improve family functioning. Visitation (59%) is the most common service provided to parents with children entering care in Clackamas County. The most common services provided to children include residential treatment, shelter evaluations and counseling. In general, services provided to SOSCF children and parents are similar to those offered to other families with children entering substitute care. About 59% of the children are returned home in the year after removal in Clackamas County; this is higher than other branch offices serving a similar clientele (45%). Reabuse rate, which acknowledges both the percentage of children reabused after returning home, as well as, the percentage of children reabused after a valid abuse referral, is significantly lower in Clackamas County (5.3%) than elsewhere (10.2%). Thus, the Clackamas County SOSCF branch office is unique in their ability to return more children home while simultaneously having fewer children reabused. The Clackamas County SOSCF branch office strives to balance child safety with efforts to preserve families. This delicate balance weighs the potential for reabuse with the emotional needs of the children to remain with their parents. Services to children and families attempt to moderate the effects of child abuse and neglect and ensure the most vulnerable children are protected from abuse/neglect. |
