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

Most Prevelent Barriers in Tillamook 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 Tillamook County

Tillamook County Summary

Between 20-25 children enter foster care in Tillamook County each year. Each situation where a child is placed in foster care is unique -- there are different types of abuse/neglect, severities of abuse/neglect, parental problems, child's problems, and there are different services offered and different barriers resolved by the families. This report profiles the families with children entering foster care in Tillamook County and compares the Tillamook County profile with Oregon's profile. Profiles are for children who entered foster care and stayed in care for at least two weeks in the year after the removal. This report compares children entering foster care between 1991 and mid-1993 in Tillamook County with children entering foster care elsewhere in Oregon. Researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University reviewed 35 case records from Tillamook County where children had been removed from their homes for at least two weeks.

The most prevalent reason a child is placed in care in Tillamook County is sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is the fifth most likely reason a child will enter care in Oregon (12%) but is the most likely reason a child will enter care in Tillamook County (23%). In most cases of sexual abuse, the perpetrator leaves the home and the non-offending parent is willing to protect the child from subsequent abuse. The child is removed if the perpetrator will have continued access to the victim or the possibility of reabuse is high. Mental abuse, child behavior problems, and placement for parental condition are also more prevalent in Tillamook County than elsewhere in Oregon. Parental absence, physical abuse, treatment issues of the child, and particularly neglect are less prevalent in Tillamook County.

There is a system developed by the agency which considers the vulnerability of a child being served by SOSCF. The level of vulnerability system considers primarily the severity of the abuse or neglect and age of the child. The level of vulnerability is comprised of 7 levels; level 1 cases include the most severe situations while level 7 cases include the least severe situations. The most common levels of vulnerability of children entering foster care in Tillamook County are level 3 and level 5 -- each represents about 1/4 of the children entering care. Short-term parental absence from parental incarceration, care due to parental hospitalization, child requires residential treatment, and mild emotional abuse (ages 0-12 years) comprise these levels. Compared to other Oregon counties, Tillamook County has larger populations of level 2, level 5, and level 6 children, but fewer level 1 and level 7 children.

Although one-third of the children entering foster care in Tillamook County do not exhibit problems many children entering foster care are afflicted with problems. Twenty-nine percent are criminally involved delinquents, 29% are beyond parental control, 29% are victims of sexual abuse, and 20% have behavior problems. When compared with other children entering care in Oregon, a lower percentage of children in Tillamook County exhibit problems, are angry aggressive, are drug or alcohol involved, and academically delayed.

Most children enter foster care after being maltreated by their parents; these parents often have problems or conditions which influence their ability to parent. These problems or conditions are known as family factors. The most common problems exhibited by parents with children entering foster care in Oregon include drug/alcohol involvement (51%), poor parenting skills (49%), single parenthood (49%), and unemployment (36%). In Tillamook County, the most prevalent family factors include drug/alcohol involvement (48%), unemployment (45%), single parenthood (38%), and poor parenting skills (36%). Unemployment and inadequate income are more common in Tillamook County than elsewhere in Oregon; single parenthood and poor parenting skills are less pervasive in Tillamook County than elsewhere in Oregon.

Barriers are family problems or conditions that require some resolution before a child can be returned home. The common barriers in Oregon include parental drug/alcohol involvement, poor parenting skills, and failure to complete treatment. The three most common barriers in Tillamook County include chronic dysfunctional family, parental drug/alcohol involvement, and poor parenting skills. Chronic dysfunctional family, chronic unemployment, and domestic violence are more prevalent in Tillamook County then other Oregon counties; parental drug/alcohol involvement and poor parenting skills are more common barriers elsewhere in Oregon. There are two barriers that are much more prevalent in Tillamook County and have low return home rates -- parent does not want the child and the agency is planning to terminate the parental rights.

Services are provided by SOSCF and their community partners to minimize abuse, minimize the number of children entering care, and maximize the number of children returning home. The most common services provided to families with children entering care in Oregon include visitation, and counseling services provided by SOSCF and other community partners. The most common services to families in Tillamook County include homemaker, SOSCF counseling, and counseling provided by other community agencies. Unlike other Oregon counties, more services are provided to the children entering care in Tillamook County -- shelter evaluations and sexual abuse treatment.

The return home rate is the percentage of children returned home to the same parent(s) in the year after removal. Return home rate in Tillamook County (77%) is considerably higher then branches serving a similar group of clients (39%). Reabuse rate is the percentage of children reabused in the year after an initial abuse, and the percentage of children abused in the year after a child returns home from foster care. The reabuse rate from foster care in Tillamook County (28%) is higher than elsewhere in Oregon (11%). Generally, higher return home rates are associated with higher reabuse rates.

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.