Multnomah County (Metro Region), 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 11 most prevelant problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.

Most Prevelent Barriers in Metro Region

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 Metro Region

Metro Region Summary

The State Office for Services to Children and Families (SOSCF) has four geographic regions -- Eastern, Southern, Western, and Metropolitan. The Metropolitan region is synonymous with Multnomah County. Thirty-one percent of the children entering care are removed from families residing in Multnomah County; of the children residing in foster care today, 40% entered care in Multnomah County. The discrepancy between the 31% entering care and the 40% in care reflects the inability of the agency to return children to abusive and neglectful situations. A lower percentage of children are returned in Multnomah County because parents have more problems and children are more severely abused/neglected than in other parts of Oregon.

Over 450 case records of children entering substitute care were reviewed by researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University. The cases included only children entering care who stayed in care for at least two weeks in the year after the removal. The information gleaned from case records includes the following: reason for removal, severity of abuse, problems exhibited by children entering care, problems exhibited by the parents, barriers to returning children home, services offered, return home rate, and reabuse rate.

The most common reasons children enter care in Multnomah County are neglect (21%), treatment issues of the child (17%), parental absence (17%), physical abuse (15%), and sexual abuse (11%). Physical abuse is the most common reason children are removed in foster care in Oregon. Compared with other SOSCF branches located throughout Oregon, neglect and parental absence tends to be more prevalent in Multnomah County; physical abuse and child's behavior problems are less prevalent in Multnomah County.

The level of vulnerability is a child welfare priority system which considers the severity of abuse and age of the child. Younger and more severely maltreated children are identified as the most vulnerable (levels 1-3) and older less severely abused children are considered less vulnerable (levels 4-7). Children being removed from their homes in Multnomah County are being removed from some of the more severe situations in the state. Eighty percent of the children entering care in Multnomah County are identified as level 1, level 2, or level 3. Severe sexual abuse and threat of harm account for more than half the level 1 children entering foster care in Multnomah County. Ninety-five percent of the neglected children are identified in the highest levels and most involve chronic neglect of young children. Ninety-five percent of the parental absence cases are identified as levels 1 and 3. Parental absence includes abandoned children, parents requiring residential drug/alcohol treatment, and parents who are incarcerated. The percentage of abandoned children and the percentage of drug affected infants entering foster care is higher in Multnomah County than elsewhere in Oregon.

Over half the children entering foster care in Multnomah County are identified as level 3. For level 3 chronic neglect of young children (36%) and short-term parental desertion (27%) are the largest groups. Most short-term parental absence results from the arrest and subsequent incarceration of the parent(s). Level 3 cases also includes children with severe handicaps requiring treatment, children with mental conditions, children with behavioral problems, and child sexual offenders.

The level 5 population from Multnomah County consists primarily of parents in need of treatment for mental illness, disabilities, or physical problems. Young children subjected to less severe forms of physical abuse also comprise the level 5 population of children entering foster care in Multnomah County; statewide, 30% of the level 5 children reflect less severe forms of physical abuse.

Multnomah County serves a lower percentage of level 7 children than most branch offices. Level 7 children are the least vulnerable children served by SOSCF and are primarily composed of adolescents who are beyond parental control. The percentage of level 7 children is expected to decline as counties begin serving these children and families. In summary, the largest group of children entering foster care in Multnomah County are identified as level 3 and level 1. A higher proportion of cases were identified in the higher levels of vulnerability than elsewhere in Oregon.

Most children enter foster care after being maltreated by their parents. About 20% of the children entering foster care require extensive treatment or have needs beyond their parents= capability. Although only a minority of children enter foster care for their own treatment needs, most children do exhibit problems related to the abuse/neglect and family dysfunction. The children entering foster care in Multnomah County tend to be more depressed and exhibit more behavioral problems then elsewhere in Oregon. Angry/aggressive, academically delayed, sexually active and emotionally disturbed children are slightly more common in Multnomah County when compared to children entering foster care in other counties. Many of these problems (i.e. sexually active, academically delayed, and depression) are common with child sexual abuse victims. Nearly 1/3 of the children entering foster care in Multnomah County and Oregon have been sexually abused.

Parents who maltreat their children are often burdened with problems or conditions that affect their parenting. The five most prevalent parental problems or conditions in Oregon are drug/alcohol involvement, poor parenting skills, single parenthood, unemployment, and being a teenager when their first child was born; these same parental problems and conditions, known as family factors, are the most common factors for parents with children entering foster care in Multnomah County. Family factors are more prevalent in Multnomah County than elsewhere in Oregon. Some of these factors are associated with risk of serious abuse, some are associated with risk of a child being placed in care, and some factors influence the likelihood of a child returning home.

There are particular problems or situations which increase the likelihood of a child being removed from home -- severity of abuse/neglect, behaviors being exhibited by the parents and children, and the likelihood of reabuse. Similarly there are family problems or situations which affect the likelihood of a child returning home from foster care; these are known as Abarriers.@ The most common barriers in Oregon include parental drug/alcohol involvement, poor parenting skills, and failure to get the necessary treatment. These same barriers are the most prevalent barriers in Multnomah County; these barriers are more prevalent in Multnomah County than in other Oregon counties.

Abusive and neglectful families are provided services to reduce maltreatment, improve family functioning, and moderate the effects of abuse/neglect to the child. In general, a higher percentage of families with children entering foster care in Multnomah County are offered services than elsewhere in Oregon. Parental drug/alcohol evaluations, parental drug/alcohol treatment, parent training, SOSCF counseling, and psychological examinations are more prevalent in Multnomah County. Conversely, there is a lower percentage of families receiving non-SOSCF counseling (e.g. counseling received from mental health, local community organizations, and private entities) in Multnomah County than SOSCF branch offices. The higher percentage of families offered services reflects SOSCF's attempts to resolve problems and return children home. Children who cannot be returned home enter a permanent planning process designed to ensure a consistent and safe replacement home for the child. Over 40% of Oregon's permanent planning cases are children placed in foster care in Multnomah County.

In Oregon, about half the children are returned to the same home in the year after their removal. Multnomah County SOSCF branch offices return 8% more children than other SOSCF offices serving a similar group of parents and children. Although the counties return home rate is lower than other SOSCF offices, the rate is low because of the level of family dysfunction and the severity of maltreatment in the county. If the Multnomah Counties served a similar clientele as elsewhere in Oregon, the return home rate would be 8% higher than other SOSCF offices. In addition, a higher return home rate considering the population they serve, the percentage of children reabused in the year after being abused or entering care is lower in Multnomah County than in other Oregon counties. Thus, the Multnomah SOSCF branch offices serve some of the most severely abused and neglected children, serve parents exhibiting more problems, return more children home, and have fewer children reabused when compared to other SOSCF branch offices.

The Multnomah County SOSCF branch offices 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 attempts to moderate the effects of child abuse and neglect and ensure the most vulnerable children are protected from maltreatment.