St. Johns County, Oregon

The Child Welfare Partnership (CWP) at Portland State University provides educational, training, and research assistance to SOSCF. The research component of the CWP conducts research to recognize the changing client population, provide statistical models for deploying and redeploying staff, and optimizing the use of limited resources. These studies enable SOSCF administration to make informed decisions about serving this needy population of Oregonians.

This report profiles the client population served by SOSCF branch offices. The “Cohort Studies” profile a group of children entering substitute care during a period of time. This report profiles children entering long-term foster care from mid-1992 to 1995; the profiles include parental problems or conditions, child problems, child’s age, severity of maltreatment, barriers affecting family reunification, and services offered to families. The long-term population profiled in this report are children who are in care for at least 14 days during the year after their removal. About 80% of the children entering foster care in Oregon are considered long-term cases; the remaining 20% are quickly returned home and do not remain in foster care for an extended period.

In Oregon, children ages 0-4 years represent 29% of the child population, children ages 5-9 years represent 28% of the child population, children 10-14 years represent 28% of the child population, and children 15-17 years represent 16% of the child population. For the population of children entering foster care, nearly half are 0-5 years, 29% are ages 6-12 years, and 23% are ages 13-17 years. A disproportionate number of preschool children are in long-term foster care. Reuniting families with young children is a difficult decision -- the youngest children are the most vulnerable to serious maltreatment, however, parent-child bonding is most important when children are young.

The age of the child victim is one of the most important variables in child welfare. The age of children entering care is continually decreasing as limited resources prohibit serving all needy children and families. SOSCF is forced to prioritize families with the greatest need or most likely to severely maltreat their child. This trend is expected to continue as the demand for child welfare services continues to outstrip the agency’s ability to serve maltreating families.

Level 1 cases involve the most severe types of child maltreatment. Child maltreatment related fatalities, fractured skulls, brain damaged children resulting from shaken baby syndrome, severely drug affected infants, abandoned children, and severely sexually abused children are all considered level 1. Level 2 cases involve younger children exposed to chronic neglect, severe emotional abuse, moderate physical abuse, and children left with babysitters whose parents do not return. Level 3 cases often involve treatment for children or treatment for parents. Children with severe emotional disturbances, physical/medical handicaps, mental problems, and child sexual offenders requiring treatment are all considered level 3. In addition, parental incarceration, parental hospitalization, and parental detoxification treatment are all categorized as level 3. Level 4 cases are milder forms of child maltreatment to young children (ages 0-5 years) and more severe forms of child maltreatment to older children (ages 13-17 years). Level 5 and level 6 cases include mild and moderate maltreatment to older children. Level 7 cases have traditionally been recognized as out of control teenagers. In addition to the chronic acting out teenagers, level 7 cases involve mild physical abuse, mild neglect, juvenile delinquents, and voluntary requests for placement. Fewer and fewer level 7 children are being served by SOSCF; other community agencies are provided resources to serve this population of children and parents.

Most of the older children entering foster care exhibit problems. Although younger children tend to exhibit fewer problems, many younger children later develop behaviors or problems related to the maltreatment. Thus, although 85% of the children entering foster care do exhibit problems, some not identified with problems will later exhibit problems. These estimates are considered conservative and reflect the proportion of children entering foster care who exhibit problems in the year after the removal.

Problems exhibited by children entering foster care are important to profile. More problematic children require more extensive treatment and require more skilled providers. Foster parents will need more training and skills, residential treatment facilities will require more intensive services for more extended periods, and matching of children to prospective adoptive families will require more efforts to minimize disruption rates.

Some family factors increase the likelihood a child will be placed in foster care; other family factors increase the likelihood a child will be seriously maltreated. Unemployment, drug/alcohol involvement, criminal involvement, and inadequate housing increase the likelihood of a foster care placement. These family factors are much more common with the population of children in foster care than the population being served in-home. There are other parental characteristics associated with the risk of serious maltreatment. Mothers with young infants who are mentally ill are more susceptible to seriously maltreating their child. Father figures who are criminally involved and prone to violent acts are more likely to seriously maltreat a child.

The factors below include the more important factors associated with risk of a child entering foster care and /or risk of serious maltreatment. When these factors are common in a community, the number of children entering care and the number of serious maltreatment cases are expected to be higher than other communities.

All barriers influencing a child’s return home have been identified for each family. When a single barrier is selected for children not returning home, the most important barriers preventing family reunification can be identified. Parental drug involvement (27%), a parent unwilling to be a parental resource (10%), a parent who cannot be located (7%), mental condition (7%), chronic neglect (6%), and alcohol abuse (6%) are the most important parental barriers that prevent a child from returning home. Communities where these barriers are common will have more difficulty returning children home.

There are 38 different services provided to maltreating parents that are recognized by the Cohort Study. The fifteen most common services constitute 80% of the services provided. The average family is provided with four services to the parent(s). About 50% of those services are completed by either parent, about 25% are partially competed, and about 25% are not attended.

Most of the common services listed below are associated with promoting family reunification or minimizing re-abuse. Visitation, parent training, drug/alcohol treatment, counseling, and alcoholics/narcotics anonymous are all associated with higher return home rates. Low return home rates are associated with parents who do not participate with services. Although many services are associated with increased numbers of children returning home, fewer services are associated with lower re-abuse rates. Parent training, drug/alcohol inpatient treatment, individual counseling, and alcoholic/narcotics anonymous are all associated with lower re-abuse rates. Most services require full parental participation to decrease re-abuse rate. A full report on service effectiveness can be obtained from the Child Welfare Partnership (503-315-4268).

Children ages 0-5 years average one services in the year after their removal, children ages 6-12 years average 1.9 services, and children ages 13-17 years average 2.2 services. The most common services provided in all age groups is individual counseling. Individual counseling to very young children might be substantially different from individual counseling provided to a teenager. About half the children ages 6-12 years are provided individual counseling, about one in five receives a psychological examination, and about 1 in 6 receive an individualized education plan (IEP). These three services represent about half the services provided to children ages 6-12 years. Children ages 13-17 years are the smallest population of children entering foster care yet each child tends to receive more services. Individual counseling is provided to half the children ages 13-17 years, one-quarter are provided psychological examinations and residential treatment, about 16% receive independent living, and about one in nine receive drug/alcohol treatment, an individualized education plan, sexual abuse treatment, and drug/alcohol evaluations.

The most common reasons children enter foster care in Oregon are neglect (25%), parental absence (17%), threat of harm (13%), physical abuse (11%), and treatment issues of the child (11%). Statewide these five reasons account for 77% of the removals; in the St. Johns branch these same five reasons account for 77% of the children entering foster care. These five removal reasons have similar estimates to the statewide profile in St. Johns County; physical abuse is slightly higher in the St. Johns branch at 16%. Parental absence includes situations where the caretaker is incarcerated or where the caretaker leaves a child with a baby-sitter well beyond the prescribed time. Threat of harm includes situations where a child is at risk for abuse or neglect (e.g. perpetrator residing in the home) although child maltreatment has not occurred.

Children entering foster care are categorized into three groups - children ages 0-5 years, children ages 6-12 years, and children ages13-17 years. Of the children entering foster care in Oregon 48% are ages 0-5 years, 29% are ages 6-12 years, and 23% are ages 13-17 years. Ages for children served in St. Johns County are similar to the statewide estimate; fifty-two percent of the children entering care fall into the youngest age group, 25% are in the mid age group, and 23% are in the oldest age group.

Level of vulnerability is a child welfare profiling system which considers the severity of abuse and the 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). Statewide almost 82% of children entering long term foster care are identified as levels 1-3, whereas 78% are identified as levels 1-3 in the St. Johns. The St. Johns branch serves slightly more level 1 children (20% verses 16%), and slightly fewer level 2 children (27% verses 31%) and level 3 children (31% verses 35%) when compared to other counties in Oregon. The estimates associated with levels 4-6 also mimic the state profile in St. Johns. However, there are more level 7 children served in St. Johns (12%) than elsewhere in the state (8%).

Within each level of vulnerability there are numerous sublevels which specifically describe why children enter foster care. Although the limited number of observations prohibits definitive comparisons between the county and statewide profiles, some observations are worth noting. For level 1 cases the primary reason for removal in Oregon (6%) and in St. Johns (5%) is severe sexual abuse. In the level 2 population the primary reason for removal statewide (15%) and in the St. Johns branch is chronic neglect to young children (16%). In level 3 the primary reasons for removal statewide are parental incarceration (9%), residential treatment (7%), and chronic neglect to school aged children (5%). In the St. Johns branch parental incarceration is less common (5%), residential treatment is similar (7%) and chronic neglect to school aged children (3%) is slightly less than statewide.

The effects of abuse, neglect, and family separation often result in problems for children who enter substitute care. Some children are described with no problems while most have one or more mental, physical, or behavioral problems. Children who enter foster care in the St. Johns branch are identified with no problems in 14% of the cases compared to 15% statewide. Victim of sexual abuse (27%), angry/aggressive behavior (27%), and out of control/acting out (26%) are the most common child problems identified in Oregon. In the St. Johns branch these three child problems are similar to the statewide estimates. Children served in St. Johns present significantly more problems than children served elsewhere in the state. Some of these child problems that are more common in the St. Johns branch include exposure to domestic violence, victim of sequential physical abuse, depression, academically delayed, and medical condition.

Parents who maltreat their children often have problems or conditions that affect their parenting. These problems and conditions are described as family factors. The most common family factor for both Oregon and the St. Johns branch is poor parenting. This factor was present in 72% of the families with children entering foster care statewide and 59% in the St. Johns branch. Most family factors identified in St. Johns have estimates close to the state estimates. Family factors found to be more common in St. Johns than elsewhere in Oregon include: teen parenthood, history of abuse to children, health impaired, homelessness, and low IQ. Alcohol abuse, unemployment, poverty/inadequate income, divorce/marital problems, and mental illness are all family factors found to be less common in St. Johns than statewide.

Barriers are problems or situations that affect the likelihood of a child returning home. Often, barriers are related to the risk factors and maltreatment that caused the child’s placement into foster care. Although the agency recognizes both child and parental barriers, most often it is resolution of parental barriers that determines if a child returns home. The most common barriers for caretakers statewide include drug involvement (36%), chronic neglect (19%), and alcohol abuse (16%). In the St. Johns branch drug involvement is slightly higher at 28%, and chronic neglect (14%) and alcohol abuse (13%) are slightly lower than the statewide estimates. Most parental barriers collected in the St. Johns branch tend to have estimates higher than the statewide estimates. For example, poor parenting discipline, parent/child conflict, domestic violence, angry/aggressive behavior, continued criminal involvement, and chronic dysfunctional family are barriers affecting more families served in the St. Johns branch than families served statewide. Mental condition is a barrier affecting 10% of the families served in the St. Johns branch and statewide. Sexual offender is a barrier less pervasive in St. Johns than statewide, which is 6% and 10% respectively.

Although parental problems and parental barriers determine if most children return home, children may also present barriers to their return home. The most common child barrier statewide is out of control behavior (12%); this barrier is only 8% in the St. Johns branch. Mental/emotional condition, unresolved sexual abuse victimization, and angry/aggressive behavior are barriers that mimic the statewide estimates in the St. Johns branch. Almost half the children sampled statewide and about 42% in the St. Johns branch have no identified barriers.

Services are offered to families in order to resolve the issues that brought the child into care, minimize the potential for reabuse, reduce the effects of maltreatment on the child and increase the likelihood of family reunification. Services including parent training, treatment, counseling and family support are services provided through community agencies and directly by SOSCF. Visitation is the most commonly offered family service statewide (68%) and in the St. Johns branch (65%). Services tend to be offered more to families served in the St. Johns branch than statewide. For example, parent training, family unity, psychological examinations, IFS, family counseling, AA/NA support and anger management are services offered more in the St. Johns branch than elsewhere in Oregon. Drug/ alcohol evaluations, drug/alcohol outpatient and inpatient treatment, and individual counseling are services offered less in St. Johns than seen elsewhere in Oregon.

Services to children are intended to minimize the effects of maltreatment and modify behavior. The most common service offered to children entering foster care statewide (32%), and in the St. Johns branch (37%) is individual counseling. Other common services offered to children served in the St. Johns branch with higher estimates than the statewide estimates include IEP's (12% verses 10%), Cares sexual abuse examination (9% verses 6%), and drug/alcohol evaluations (7% verses 3%). Psychological examination is a service offered to 15% of the children entering foster care statewide and in the St. Johns branch. Sexual abuse victim treatment is offered to only 3% of the children entering care in the St. Johns branch; this is somewhat less than the 8% served statewide. Twenty-six percent of the children entering foster care in the St. Johns branch are offered no services; this estimate is similar to the 28% of children offered no services statewide.

The St. Johns SOSCF branch office and their community partners work to respond to the needs of families at risk, protect vulnerable children, and prevent reabuse. By working to diminish abuse and neglect, the agency endeavors to preserve the emotional and physical well being of the children and families they serve, as well as promote healthier family functioning.