Lake County, Oregon

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 prevalent problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.

Most Prevalent Barriers in Lake 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 Lake County

Lake County Summary

There were only 18 children in Lake County who entered substitute care for two weeks or more between 1991 and mid-1993. Fourteen of these cases were reviewed by researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University. Although a majority of the Lake County cases were reviewed, comparison between Lake County and Oregon's client profile are not definitive. When one large family can dramatically alter a County's profile, descriptions of the local client population served by the local SOSCF branch office cannot be conclusive. Despite the limited data available, some trends are noteworthy.

The most prevalent reasons children are placed outside their homes in Lake County include physical abuse and sexual abuse (both approximating 28%); both of these estimates exceed state estimates. In addition to the high estimates for physical and sexual abuse, the percentage of children who enter substitute care after a parent's voluntary request for placement is higher in Lake County. Although voluntary requests for placement represent very few cases, it does represent half the level 7 children entering care in Lake County.

The level of vulnerability system includes 7 levels; level 1 cases include the most severe situations while level 7 cases include the least severe situations. Apportioning 14 cases among the seven levels of vulnerability complicates the comparison between Lake County and the State of Oregon. Lake County children identified as level 1 (28%) include instances of severe physical abuse to a young child and severe sexual abuse. Sexual abuse victims are placed in care when the perpetrator refuses to leave the home or when the non-offending parent (usually the biological mother) opts to remain with the perpetrator and not support the child.

The percentage of sexually abused children in foster care continues to increase. In Oregon, 26% the children entering foster care between 1987-1990 were sexual abuse victims; the 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. The percentage of sexual abuse victims entering care in Lake county is similar to the state estimate.

Most parents with children entering out-of-home care in Lake County have poor parenting skills (75%), are single parents (66%), and about half are unemployed and had children as teenagers; all these estimates exceed the state estimates. Other factors, which are common with the most severe physical abuse and neglect cases, are less prevalent in Lake county -- parental drug and alcohol abuse, criminal involvement, new baby in the home, and domestic violence.

The most severe family problems or situations which prohibit a child from returning home are known as barriers. Although all the children from the Lake county sample were returned home in the year after the removal, parental barriers were noted. The most common barriers in Lake County include poor parenting, drugs/alcohol abuse, and chronic dysfunctional family. These barriers were resolved or partially resolved by the biological parents or the children were placed with the extended family.

Returning children home and reuniting families is the agency goal whenever possible. This agency effort represents a balanced need for continued protection of the child and the inherent benefits of children living with their families. The Lake County SOSCF has been able to return all children and minimize the number of children who are subsequently reabused. The reabuse rate in Lake County is 4.3% which is one of the lowest reabuse rates in the state. Considering the types of families served in Lake County, the expected reabuse rate approximates 12%.

There is a large array of services provided by communities and SOSCF to help families resolve problems and improve family functioning. Drug and alcohol evaluations and treatment are the most common services opened to parents with children entering care in Lake County. The most common child service is residential treatment although counseling services are common. Several Lake County foster children enter residential treatment facilities and resolve their issues. Several children placed in Lake County also received drug and alcohol counseling, and other counseling services to redirect delinquent or chronic acting out behaviors.

The Lake 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. 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.