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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 Grant 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 Grant County
Grant County Summary
There are about 5-10 children entering substitute care in Grant County each year. Children are placed in care to protect them from parental abuse/neglect extensive problems. Researches from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University reviewed 14 records from Grant County where children had been removed from their homes for at least two weeks. Although 14 cases prohibit definitive comparisons with other counties, some comparisons are worth noting. This report compares families served by SOSCF in Grant County with families served elsewhere in Oregon. The most common reasons children enter care in Oregon include physical abuse, neglect, treatment issues of the child, parental absence, and sexual abuse. The most common reasons children enter care in Grant County include threat of harm and physical abuse. Threat of harm is much more prevalent in Grant County (55%) than elsewhere in Oregon (8%). Threat of harm often includes situations where biological parents allow child abuse perpetrators to have contact with their children. Non offending spouses may not believe the abuse has occurred or may feel the perpetrator will not reabuse their child. Both neglect and sexual abuse are less prevalent as reasons children enter care in Grant County. 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 many factors including severity of abuse and age of the child. Although 14 cases limit our ability to profile the vulnerability of children entering care, most Grant County cases are identified in the higher levels. Level 1 cases consist primarily of threats to children resulting from parental actions or the failure of a parent to protect a child from abusive situations. Level 2 cases are primarily moderate physical abuse to young children (ages 0-12 years) while level 3 cases are primarily short term parental absence resulting from incarceration. Children entering foster care often exhibit disturbing behaviors associated with physical or mental disorders . The most common behaviors exhibited by children entering care in Grant County include academic delays, victim of sexual abuse, delinquent behaviors, out-of-parental control behaviors, and sexually active or aggressive; all these behaviors are more prevalent in Grant County than elsewhere in Oregon. Interestingly, the percentage of children without problems is high in Grant County (29%) compared with the state (17%). Apparently, children entering care in Grant County tend to exhibit many problems or none at all. Parents who abuse or neglect their children are themselves often burdened by a number of problems. These problems are known as family factors. Most children entering care in Grant County are at serious risk of abuse from actions or inactions of their parents. The five most prevalent family factors in Grant County -- drug/alcohol involvement, overwhelming child care, marital problems, domestic violence, and inadequate income -- are less common in other parts of Oregon. Drug/alcohol involvement, domestic violence and inadequate income are associated with risk of removal or risk of serious abuse. Single parenthood is one of the few factors that is less common in Grant County. Family factors, which profile family problems when children are placed in foster care, can also be barriers to returning children home. Family factors are considered barriers when the problem requires some resolution before a child can be returned home. Poor parenting skills (57%) and physical/emotional/mental condition (43%) are more common in Grant County than elsewhere in Oregon. The small number of cases reviewed make it difficult to compare the Grant County and the state profile, however, two things are noteworthy. First, about 40-50% of the parents do not have barriers; this implies the children have entered care because of their own behaviors and not their parent's behaviors. There also appears to be more physical /emotional/mental conditions but fewer drug/alcohol problems preventing children from returning home. Resolving family barriers improves the chances of a child returning home. Services are designed to help families resolve barriers, minimize the potential for subsequent abuse and lessen the impact of child maltreatment. Services most commonly offered to parents in Grant County include counseling provided by other agencies, parent training, and visitation with children in care. The most common child services in Grant County include individual education plans, residential treatment, shelter care evaluations, and drug/alcohol evaluations. Although counseling provided by non-SOSCF agencies and a child's individual education plan are common in Grant County, a similar percentage of SOSCF families receive the same services elsewhere in Oregon. About 75% of the children in foster care for two weeks or more return home within the year after removal in Grant County. Other branches serving a similar client population would return fewer children (61%). Of the children returned home and the children remaining in their homes after a valid abuse/neglect referral, 17% are abused during the following year in Grant County. This is somewhat higher than the 11% which would be expected if the same families were served elsewhere in Oregon. Although more children are returned home in the year after removal, more children are reabused. The Grant 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 child to remain with their parents. The State Office for Services to Children and Families attempts to moderate the effects of maltreatment and ensure the most vulnerable children are protected from abuse/neglect. |
