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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 11 most prevelant problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.
Most Prevelent Barriers in Douglas 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 Douglas County
Douglas County Summary
About 50 children per year from Douglas County are placed in substitute care and stay in care for two weeks in the year after being placed. Some enter care and stay in care for the entire year, others stay in care for a few months until the parents resolve certain problems, while others enter and re-enter care multiple times. Although many children placed in care do not spend 14 days in care, the population sampled for this study were in care for 14 days. Researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University reviewed sixty-four randomly selected cases of children entering care between 1991 and mid-1993. This report summarizes the family characteristics of children who enter care and stay in care for 14 days in the year after their placement into substitute care. A profile of children entering substitute care in Douglas County is compared to the state profile for the following: types of abuse/neglect which prompt placement into care, severity of abuse/neglect, problems of the children entering care, parental problems, barriers to returning children home, and services offered to the parents and children. The most common reasons children are placed outside their homes in Douglas County include sexual abuse (21%), parental absence (19%), physical abuse (14%), short-term parental absence for a parental condition (14%), and threat of harm (14%). The most common reasons children are placed in substitute care in Oregon include physical abuse (18%), neglect (17%), treatment issues of the child (16%), parental absence (13%), and sexual abuse (12%). When compared to the state profile, higher proportions of children from Douglas County are removed for sexual abuse, parental absence and short-term parental absence; conversely removals for physical abuse, neglect, and treatment issues of the child are less common in Douglas County. Many more children are sexually abused than are children placed for sexual abuse. Generally, children are placed in care and stay in care when the perpetrator is not willing to leave the home or the non-offending spouse is unwilling or unable to protect the child from subsequent abuse. Parental absence includes situations such as parental incarceration, not returning to pick a child up from a babysitter at the prescribed time, and abandoning a child with no intention of returning. In Douglas County, parental incarceration is a more common reason children enter care than elsewhere in Oregon. The level of vulnerability system includes 7 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 many factors including severity of abuse and age of the child. The Oregon profile and Douglas County profile are similar with two notable exceptions. There are substantially more level 5 but substantially fewer level 7 children entering care in Douglas County. Services to level 7 children have been provided by the Commission of Children and Families -- SOSCF is expecting a reduction in the number of children entering substitute care and Douglas County is a leader in this regard. Children entering care for parental incarceration, chronic neglect, and a parent=s mental illness comprise the level 3 population. Level 5 cases consist primarily of young victims of mild physical abuse (ages 0-12 years). Children entering foster care are often afflicted with problems associated with child maltreatment and family dysfunction. In Oregon, 26% of the children entering foster care between 1987-1990 were sexually abused; this percentage increased to 31% for children entering between 1991 and mid-1993. This trend is particularly troubling considering the long-term effects of sexual abuse. Sexual abuse victims tend to be more depressed, more sexually active, more prone to suicidal behaviors and more likely to be sexual offenders than other children entering foster care. Thirty-seven percent of the children entering foster care in Douglas County are sexual abuse victims. Most other problems tend to be similar in prevalence or less prevalent in Douglas County than in other parts of Oregon. Considering level 7 tend to exhibit more problems and fewer level 7 children enter care in Douglas County, a lower prevalence might be expected. Most children enter substitute care after abuse, neglect, or threats from parental problems or actions. Family problems or conditions, known as family factors, are recognized for each family with a child entering care. Some factors are more prevalent with severely abused/neglected children such as criminal involvement, parent abused as a child, mental illness, and domestic violence. Factors such as drug/alcohol involvement, unemployment, inadequate housing, and criminal involvement are associated with risk of a child being placed in substitute care. Most factors are more common in Douglas County than elsewhere in Oregon. The most common factors in Douglas County are also notably more prevalent than in other Oregon counties -- drug/alcohol involvement, poor parenting skills, unemployment, emotionally unstable, history of being abusive to children, and criminal involvement. These factors tend to be associated with risk of removal and/or risk of serious abuse. The most severe family problems or situations which prohibit a child from returning home are known as barriers. Barriers are the family problems that must be addressed before a child is returned home. Barriers to returning children home are more common in Douglas County. Poor parenting is more prevalent in Douglas County (55%) than elsewhere in Oregon (35%). Parental incarceration (30%) is more common than in other Oregon counties (8%). Inadequate housing, inadequate income, parents with physical/emotional conditions, and criminal involvement are more common in Douglas County. Services are offered to families to resolve barriers and encourage reunification. The most common services offered to parents in Douglas County are parent training, visitation, drug and alcohol evaluations, drug/alcohol treatment, homemaker services and day care. Child counseling and child psychological examinations are the most common services offered to children entering care in Douglas County. In general, with two exceptions, the profile of services offered to families in Douglas County is similar to services offered elsewhere in Oregon. Both homemaker services and day care are offered more in Douglas County than elsewhere in Oregon. Returning children home and ensuring child safety are two agency goals. The return home rate is the percentage of children returned home to the same parent(s) in the year after the child=s removal. The percentage of children returned home in Douglas County (76%) is much higher than other counties (51%) serving a similar clientele. This return home rate is exceptionally high considering only the most vulnerable children enter care. Generally high return home rates are coupled with high re-abuse rates. In Douglas County, there exists a high return home rate and a lower re-abuse rate (9%). Branch offices serving a similar client population average a 10% re-abuse rate. Thus, Douglas County serves only the most vulnerable children, has an exceptionally high return home rate, and a low to average re-abuse rate. The Douglas County SOSCF branch office strives to balance child safety with efforts to preserve families. This delicate balance weighs the potential for re-abuse with the emotional needs of children to remain with their parents. Services to Families attempt to moderate the effects of child maltreatment and ensure the most vulnerable children are protected from abuse/neglect. |
