|
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 17 most prevelant problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.
Most Prevelent Barriers in Josephine 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 Josephine County
Josephine County Summary
Researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University reviewed 47 case records from Josephine County where children had been removed from their homes for at least two weeks. This report compares families served by SOSCF in Josephine County with families served elsewhere in Oregon for the following: reasons children enter care, severity of abuse/neglect which prompted the removal, problems exhibited by the children entering care, problems of the parents who have their children removed, barriers to returning children home, services offered, return home rate and reabuse rate. The most common reasons children enter care in Oregon are physical abuse (18%), neglect (17%), treatment issues of the child (16%), parental absence (13%), and sexual abuse (12%). The most common reasons children enter care in Josephine County are neglect (19%), voluntary request by parents to place their children in care (19%), treatment issues of the child (16%), and child's behavior (13%). In general, parental actions are responsible for children being placed in Oregon; in Josephine County, the child's actions often prompt removal. When compared to other Oregon counties, physical abuse and sexual abuse are less common reasons for removal in Josephine County although the voluntary request for placement and child's behavior are more common. The voluntary request for placement often involves an adolescent beyond parental control. The level of vulnerability system is comprised of 7 levels; level 1 cases are the most severe instances of abuse/neglect while level 7 cases are the least severe situations. Seventy-one percent of the children entering care are identified as levels 1-3; in Josephine County, half are identified as levels 1-3. Level 1 and level 2 cases are about 1/3 as common in Josephine County as elsewhere in Oregon. Similarly, level 7 cases are nearly three times as common in Josephine County (31%) as in other parts of Oregon (11%). These level 7 cases include chronically acting out children, parental voluntary requests for supportive services, and services for overwhelmed parents. Many children entering foster care are afflicted with problems. About 41% of the children entering foster care in Josephine County are criminally involved delinquents, about 38% are beyond parental control, about 25% are victims of sexual abuse, and about 24% exhibit behavioral problems. The three most prevalent problems exhibited by children entering care in Josephine County are also the three most common problems exhibited by children entering care in Oregon. In general, children entering care in Josephine County are older and tend to exhibit more of the behavioral problems which characterize the level 7 population. Parental problems and family dysfunction are often associated with a child entering substitute care. Problems or conditions of the parents are known as family factors. The most common factors being exhibited by parents with children entering care in Oregon include drug/alcohol involvement (51%), poor parenting skills (49%), and single parenthood (47%) -- these factors are the most common in Josephine County. However, when compared to Oregon counties the prevalence of family factors in Josephine County is less for each of the most common factors. In general, parents with children entering care in Josephine County tend to exhibit fewer problems than parents with a child being removed elsewhere in Oregon. Fewer family factors are often associated with higher proportions of level 7 children. Subsequent case reviews have shown fewer level 7 children are placed into subsequent care in Josephine County in 1994 and 1995. Family factors, which provide a profile of family problems when a child is placed into foster care, can also be barriers to returning children home. Barriers are family problems that require some resolution before a child is returned home. Unlike family factors, barriers in Josephine County ten to be more prevalent than elsewhere in Oregon. Poor parenting skills, parental drug/alcohol involvement, overwhelming child care, and inadequate housing are the most common barriers in Josephine County. Interestingly, children tend to be removed from less vulnerable situations and parents tend to exhibit few problems, yet there are more barriers to returning a child home. This situation may exist because the child exhibits problems and is removed from the home; subsequent assessment of the family might reveal the family problems associated with an out-of-control teenager. Resolving family barriers improves the chances of a child returning home. Services are designed to help families resolve barriers, reduce the potential for subsequent abuse, and minimize the impact of child maltreatment. The service most commonly offered to children in Josephine County is child counseling. Services most offered to parents in Josephine County include homemaker services, day care, family counseling, and parent training. The services provided less often in Josephine County then elsewhere in Oregon include non-SOSCF family counseling, parent training, drug/alcohol evaluations, and SOSCF family counseling. About 67% of the children return home within the year after removal in Josephine County. Other branches serving the same client population would return 58%. Of the children returned home and the children remaining in their homes after a valid abuse/neglect referral, 2% are abused in the following year in Josephine County. This is the lowest reabuse rate in Oregon. Reabuse rates from Oregon counties with a similar client population are 9%. All SOSCF branch offices attempt to balance the 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. This balance is particularly difficult knowing SOSCF serves the most needy children and families in Oregon. |
