Linn 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 2290. 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 Linn 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 Linn County

Linn County Summary

Annually about 125 children from Linn County enter substitute care and stay in care for two weeks. Thirty-four cases where children entered 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 Linn County is compared to the state profile for the following: the reason children enter care, severity of the abuse, problems of the children, parental problems, barriers to returning children home, and services offered to the parents and children.

The most common reasons children enter foster care in Oregon are physical abuse, neglect, treatment issues of the child, parental absence, and sexual abuse. Physical abuse, threat of harm, and treatment issues of the child are the most common reasons children enter care in Linn County. Physical abuse and mental abuse are more common in Linn County although parental absence is less common when compared to the state profile. Forty-two percent of the children in Linn County are placed in care after parental physical abuse; this is considerably higher than the state average of 18%.

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. The proportion of level 1 cases in Linn County is similar to the state. There is a higher proportion of level 2, level 5, and level 7 cases in Linn County. Moderate and mild forms of physical abuse are included in these three levels. There are relatively fewer level 3 cases in Linn County (19%) than elsewhere in Oregon (43%).

Most children entering foster care exhibit behaviors after being abused or neglected. The most prevalent child's problems in Linn County are out of parental control (39%), angry/aggressive behavior (32%), and criminal involvement (30%). These behaviors are generally more apparent with adolescents and teenagers and may be associated with the high percentage of physical abuse. Although children entering care in Linn County tend to manifest more problems, the Linn County profile of child=s problems is similar to the state profile.

Parents who abuse or neglect their children are themselves often burdened by a number of problems. These problems are known as family factors. The most common family factors in Linn County include poor parenting skills, history of being abusive to children, and single parenthood. Poor parenting skills, history of being abusive to children, and new baby in the household are more prevalent in Linn County than elsewhere in Oregon; new baby and history of being abusive to children is a particularly difficult combination of factors for caseworkers to leave the child with the parent(s) while ensuring the safety of the child. Parental drug/alcohol involvement and unemployment tend to be less common in Linn County -- both of these factors are associated with the risk of a child being removed.

Barriers are family problems or conditions that require some resolution before a child can be returned home. Family barriers often include many of the family factors discussed in the previous section. Family problems are identified as barriers when the severity of the problem prohibits adequate child-rearing or safety within a household. Although many family factors may exist when the child enters care, resolution of one or two barriers is typically sufficient to initiate the child's return home. The most common barriers in Linn County include drug/alcohol involvement, angry/aggressive behavior, and poor parenting skills. Compared to other SOSCF branch offices angry/aggressive behaviors and parent's rigid thinking are more common in Linn County while poor parenting skills and inadequate housing tend to be less common.

The State Office for Services to Children and Families provides services to families to minimize the number of children entering out-of-home care and to encourage the return home of children to their parents. Successful participation facilitates barrier resolution and increases the chances of children being returned to their biological families. Most common services provided to parents in Linn County include visitations, drug/alcohol evaluations, and non-SOSCF family counseling. Shelter evaluations, residential treatment, and psychological evaluations are the most common services offered to children in Linn County.

The return home rate refers to the percentage of children returned home to the same parent(s) whom the child was removed in the year after removal. About 35% of the children in Linn County are returned home; this is lower then the 49% returned to homes in counties serving a similar clientele. Some children are reabused after returning home while others are reabused after a caseworker has decided to leave a child in his/her own home. Fewer children are reabused in Linn County (7%) than other counties (9%) serving a similar group of families.

The Linn 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.