Washington 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 11 most prevelant problems exhibited by parents in the community who have their children in Foster Care.

Most Prevelent Barriers in Washington 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 Washington County

Washington County Summary

Each year about 300-325 children from Washington County are placed in substitute care and stay in care for two weeks. Researchers from the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University reviewed 103 cases of children entering care between 1991 and mid-1993. A profile of children entering substitute care in Washington County is compared to the state profile for the following: types of abuse/neglect prompting placement into care, severity of abuse, the problems of the children, the problems of the parents, barriers to returning children home, and services offered to the parents and children.

The most common reasons children enter care in Oregon are physical abuse, neglect, and treatment needs of the child. The most common reasons in Washington County are physical abuse, sexual abuse, and treatment needs of the child. Neglect (%) and parental absence (%) are both less common in Washington County than in other Oregon Counties. Despite these differences, the state profile and the profile for Washington County are similar.

Oregon has developed a seven-level priority system known as the level of vulnerability. Although many considerations were included in the development of the vulnerability system, age of the child and severity of the abuse are major considerations. Younger child victims of severe abuse or neglect are recognized as the most vulnerable child populations being served by SOSCF. Level 1 cases are the most severe types of child abuse and neglect while level 7 cases are considered the least severe. The most common levels of vulnerability in Oregon include level 3 and level 1; the most common levels in Washington County are level 3 and level 2. The level 2 and level 3 cases consist primarily of moderate physical abuse to young children, moderate sexual abuse, chronic neglect, and children requiring residential treatment. Although there are fewer level 1 cases in Washington County than in other Oregon counties, there are more level 2 cases. With these two exceptions, the profile for Oregon and Washington County for level of vulnerability are similar. Children from abusive, neglectful, and dysfunctional families often exhibit problems. A larger percentage of children entering care from Washington County are afflicted with problems. Children beyond parental control, victims of sexual abuse, and angry/aggressive are the most common behaviors of children entering care in Washington County. Each of these problems were recognized in 1/3 of the children entering care in Washington County. In general, more children entering care exhibit problems in Washington County than in Other Oregon counties.

Parents with children entering foster care are often burdened with a number of problems or conditions known as family factors. Drug/alcohol involvement, poor parenting skills and single parenthood exist with about half the families with children entering care in Oregon. Although these family characteristics are also common with the Washington County population, fewer parental problems are noted in Washington County cases.

Barriers are problems or conditions that require some resolution before a child can be returned home. Many factors that prompt or contribute to a child's removal from home may also prevent a child from returning home. Sexual abuse in a common reason children enter care in Washington County; sexual offender in the household and unresolved sexual abuse issues are also more common barriers in Washington County than elsewhere in Oregon. SOSCF offices prefer to have the alleged perpetrator move from the household than have the child enter substitute care. When the non-offending spouse is unwilling or unable to protect a child from the perpetrator and the perpetrator is unwilling to relocate, the child is placed in care. A higher incidence of sexual abuse as a reason for removal is often associated with a higher incidence of sexual offender as a barrier to returning a child home. Barriers associated with sexual abuse are more common in Washington County, drug/alcohol issues are considerably less prevalent. Poor parenting skills, criminal involvement, and drug/alcohol involvement are common parental barriers for the population of children entering care in Washington County; however, these barriers are less prevalent in other Oregon counties.

Resolving family barriers improves the chances of a child returning home. Services are designed to help families resolve barriers, minimize the potential for subsequent abuse and minimize the impact of child maltreatment. Services most commonly offered to SOSCF families in Washington County include visitation between the parents and child, family counseling provided by a community partner and child services -- counseling, psychological examinations and shelter evaluations. These five services are the most common in Washington County and are also provided more often than in other SOSCF branch offices. Child sexual abuse examinations are also more common in Washington County than in other Oregon counties.

Return home rate is defined as the percentage of children returned home to the same parent(s) whom the child was removed in the year after the removal. Return home rates recognize the abilities of the parents to resolve problems and the effectiveness of the services provided. Sixty-three percent of the children return home in Washington County; this is higher than comparable branches which return about half the children in the year after the removal. In addition to the high return rate, Washington County children tend to be reabused less often than children served in other Oregon counties. Thus, Washington County returns more children and has fewer children reabused in the year after removal.

The Washington 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 attempts to moderate the effects of child abuse and neglect and ensure the most vulnerable children are protected from abuse/neglect.