Umatilla County, Oregon

 

 

 

Introduction

Oregon’s child welfare agency (the State Office for Services to Children and Families or SOSCF) serves abusive families, neglectful families, overwhelmed families, families in crisis, and families with children exhibiting extreme behaviors. There are 40 SOSCF branch offices located throughout Oregon. Caseworkers in those offices assess allegations of maltreatment, provide services, arrange services for the parents and children, identify and assess prospective foster parents, identify and assess prospective adoptive parents, interact with the court system and police, and assure children and parents are provided the necessities to improve the likelihood of family reunification. Caseworkers must continually balance the benefits of reunifying families with the likelihood of subsequent maltreatment.

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.

Methods

The average branch office removes between 125 and 150 children per year. Some larger branch offices place over 300 children while some smaller offices place fewer than 30 children per year. A random sample of children entering foster care in a branch office are identified and their records are reviewed. The case file review includes the period from first allegation to one year post-removal. The case records include legal material, medical information, financial information, demographic data, correspondence, service involvement, and descriptions of reported maltreatment.

Reason for Removal

Children enter foster care for a multitude of reasons. These many reasons have been consolidated into 10 categories including physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, parental absence, threat of harm, child’s treatment needs, parent’s treatment needs, voluntary request for placement, and child’s behavior. All abusive and neglectful categories reflect caretaker maltreatment of a child. Each category is briefly defined below although more detail is available on the Partnership’s website (http://www.cwp.pdx.edu/). Most physical abuse involves bruises, broken bones, burns, facial slapping, over discipline, shaken baby, and drug exposed or drug affected infants harmed by maternal consumption of drugs during pregnancy. Mental or emotional abuse includes continual belittlement, yelling, or extended periods of isolation. Sexual abuse includes fondling, penetration, exposure to inappropriate sexual acts or using children to produce pornographic material. Neglect is primarily poor household sanitation, lack a supervision, and inadequate response to a child’s medical needs. Parental absence includes parental incarceration, and children left with babysitters when the parent does not return at the prescribed time. Threat of harm is a caretakers failure to protect a child from a known perpetrator. Child’s treatment issues include children requiring residential treatment for behavioral problems, child sexual offenders requiring treatment, and children requiring hospitalization for mental or medical problems. Parental treatment issues include the hospitalization of a parent for drug/alcohol problems, mental problems requiring extensive treatment, or medical problems requiring convalescence. Voluntary request for placement are situations where a parent requests foster care although no maltreatment has occurred; these situations are not common and are often referred to other community resources. Child’s behavior issues generally involve out-of-control teenagers sometimes involved with criminal activities.

Child's Age Groups

There are approximately 70 million children in the United States and about 825,000 live in Oregon. Children ages 0-17 years represent about 26% of the population in the United States and in Oregon.

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 of Vulnerability

SOSCF’s vulnerability system was created nearly 10 years ago to recognize the changing client population. Although numerous child and family characteristics are considered when categorizing a child’s vulnerability, child’s age and severity of maltreatment are the major considerations. There are seven levels in the vulnerability system. Younger and more severely maltreated children are identified as more vulnerable (levels 1-3) and older less severely maltreated children are identified as less vulnerable (levels 4-7).

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.

Child Problems

Many children entering foster care exhibit behaviors. Some child behaviors are related to maltreatment while other behaviors reflect poor parenting of the caretakers. Many of the problems or behaviors require extensive treatment and affect the child’s ability to maximize their potential and become productive citizens.

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.

Family Factors

Parents who maltreat children are often afflicted with problems or conditions known as family factors. The Cohort Studies recognize about three dozen different family factors including parental drug involvement, domestic violence, criminal involvement, alcohol abuse, mental illness, unemployment, and homelessness. Monitoring family characteristics enables SOSCF and their community partners to develop programs and services that meet the changing needs of the client population.

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.

Parental Barriers

There were over 5,400 children placed in foster care in 1996 and over 80% were in foster care for at least 14 days during the year after the removal; about 40% return to the same caretaker(s). Those not returned to the same caretaker(s) are adopted, placed with relatives, placed with a different biological parent, emancipate, or return home more than a year after placement into foster care. Every family has identified “barriers” that influence whether a child is returned home to the same caretaker(s). An incarcerated parent might be released from jail, a sexual offender may leave the family, a parent’s mental condition might prohibit family reunification, and a homeless family might find suitable housing -- resolution of these “barriers” determines if a child returns home. Barriers are generally a limited number of family problems or situations directly associated with a child’s return home. Most problems or situations that prevent family reunification are parental; child problems generally do not prevent family reunification.

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.

Parental Services

Maltreating parents usually require a lifestyle or behavioral change to adequately parent their child. Services provided by SOSCF, organizations contracted with SOSCF, other state agencies, the federal government, and SOSCF’s community partners provide an array of services intended to resolve problems and improve parenting. In addition to the services provided to parents, abused and neglected children are provided services to help mitigate the effects of child maltreatment and modify detrimental behaviors.

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).

Child Services

Eighty-five percent of the children entering foster care exhibit problems. SOSCF and other social services agencies provide treatment services to abused children, neglected children, and children considered dangerous to themselves or others. There are 26 different services provided to children that are recognized in the Cohort Studies. Although one-quarter of the children in foster care receive no services, child’s age influences the number and types of services offered to children.

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.

Umatilla Summary

The Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State University has conducted a series of research studies for the State Office for Services to Children and Families. The studies enable researchers to profile the families with children entering long term foster care. Long term foster care is considered the population of children who remain in foster care for at least 14 days or longer in the year after their placement in foster care. This study, known as the Cohort III, considers children entering foster care between July1992 and December 1995. Statewide 2,421 cases were reviewed including 61 from Umatilla County. The cases were randomly selected and reviewed by trained researchers. The profiles generated from this research include the reasons for removal, level of vulnerability, child's problems, family factors, barriers to return the child home, and services offered.

The most common reasons children enter foster care in Oregon include neglect (25%), parental absence (17%), threat of harm (13%), physical abuse (11%), and treatment issues of the child (11%). These five reasons account for 77% of all removals statewide and 81% of removals in Umatilla County. Although these five reasons account for a similar percentage of the removals in Oregon and Umatilla County, there are differences between the two profiles. Neglect accounts for one-quarter of the removals statewide and just under 30% in Umatilla County. Parental absence includes abandonment, incarceration, and situations where the parents leaves a child with a babysitter well beyond the prescribed time; parental absence is slightly more common in Umatilla County (23%) than elsewhere in Oregon (17%). Threat of harm, physical abuse and treatment issues of the child have similar estimates statewide and in Umatilla County. Threat of harm includes situations where a child is at risk of abuse or neglect (e.g. perpetrator resides in the home) although maltreatment has not yet occurred.

Children entering foster care have been categorized into three groups - children ages 0-5 years, children ages 6-12 years, and children ages 13-17 years. Statewide, of the children entering foster care 48% are ages 0-5, 29% are ages 6-12 and 23% are ages 13-17 years. The percentage of younger children entering foster care in Umatilla County is the same as the statewide estimate, 37% fall into the mid age group and 15% in the oldest age group.

Level of vulnerability is a seven level system that profiles the population of children entering foster care in Oregon. The severity of abuse and the age of the child are the primary considerations for categorizing cases into different levels. Younger and more severely maltreated children are identified as the most vulnerable (levels 1-3); older, less severely abused children are considered less vulnerable (levels 4-7). The percentage of children entering long-term foster care identified as levels 1-3 is 82% statewide and 87% in Umatilla County. When comparing the Umatilla County estimates to the state estimates, Umatilla County serves a higher percentage of level 1, a lower percentage of level 2, and a similar percentage of level 3. There are similar percentages of level 4, 5, 6 and level 7 children entering foster care in Umatilla County and Oregon. Level 7 cases are primarily juvenile delinquents, children beyond parental control and moderate physical abuse to adolescents.

Within each level of vulnerability there are sublevels. Each mutually exclusive sublevel describes the type and severity of maltreatment prompting the child's placement into foster care. In level 1, the most common reason for removal in Oregon is severe sexual abuse (6%). Severe physical abuse is the most common reason level 1 children are removed in Umatilla County (13%); severe physical abuse is common in only 2.4% of the cases statewide. For cases identified as level 2, chronic neglect to young children is common statewide (15%) this issue is slightly less common in Umatilla County (10%). Conversely, both desertion (10% verses 5%) and parental mental disability (7% verses 4%) are more prevalent in Umatilla County than elsewhere in Oregon. For level 3 cases the common reasons for removal in Oregon include parental incarceration (9%), child needs residential treatment (7%), and chronic neglect to children ages 6-13 years (5%). Chronic neglect is the only level 3 issue more common in Umatilla County (13%) than statewide.

Abuse, neglect, and family separation often have a negative effect on the child. Only 15% of the children statewide and 28% of the children entering care in Umatilla County are not recognized with mental, physical or behavioral problems. The child problems identified in Umatilla County tend to be less pervasive when compared to the statewide estimates. Victim of sexual abuse, angry/aggressive behavior and out of control/acting out are each exhibited by one-quarter of the children entering foster care in Oregon. These three issues are also the most common in Umatilla County but are less pervasive when compared elsewhere in Oregon.

Families served by SOSCF often have multiple problems that increase the risk of maltreatment and affect their ability to parent. These problems and conditions are known as family factors. The most prevalent factor exhibited by caretakers with children entering foster care in Umatilla County (84%) and in Oregon (72%) is poor parenting. This implies the caretakers do not understand the child's needs and their lack of knowledge places the child at risk. Chronic neglect is another common factor that affects 71% of the families served in Umatilla County and 57% of the families served statewide. Drug abuse is also a common factor in Umatilla County and statewide (both about 50%). Some of the more common factors that are more pervasive in Umatilla County include teen at first birth, alcohol involvement, unemployment domestic violence and social isolation. Others family factors more common in Umatilla County than statewide include inadequate housing, mental illness, and multiple live in partners. Single parenthood (more than 50%) and poverty/inadequate income (more than 30%) are family factors that mimic the statewide estimates in Umatilla County. When comparing the Umatilla County estimates to the statewide estimates, Umatilla County serves fewer parents who are criminally involved, fewer who have had a child removed in the past, and fewer who themselves have been abused as a child.

Barriers are problems or situations that affect the likelihood of a child returning home. Often, barriers are related to risk factors and the maltreatment prompting the foster care placement. Although both child and parental barriers exist, resolution of parental barriers usually determine if a child returns home. The most common parental barriers in Oregon include drug involvement (36%), chronic neglect (19%), and alcohol abuse (16%). These same three barriers are common in Umatilla County. In Umatilla County both drug and alcohol abuse are barriers less prevalent, and chronic neglect is equally prevalent when compared statewide. Parental barriers more pervasive in Umatilla County when compared to other SOSCF branches in Oregon include poor parenting supervision (22% verses 8%), poor parenting discipline (12% verses 10%), domestic violence (12% verses 8%), and mental condition (13% verses 10%). Only 7% statewide, as well as, 7% of families in Umatilla County have no identified parental barriers. When caretakers have no identified barrier, the child's problems generally prompt the removal and also dictate the return home.

The most common child barrier statewide (12%) and in Umatilla County (8%) is the child beyond parental control. The child barriers collected in Umatilla County tend to have lower estimates when compared to the statewide estimates. More than half the children in Umatilla County and just under half of the children served statewide showed no barriers.

SOSCF families are offered services to resolve the issues prompting placement, to minimize the potential for reabuse, to reduce the effects of maltreatment on the child, and to increase the likelihood of family reunification. There are many different types of services including parent training, treatment, counseling and support. Some of these services are provided through community agencies and some are provided directly by SOSCF. Visitation is the most common service statewide (68%) and in Umatilla County (71%). Services most commonly offered to parents in Umatilla County, that have estimates higher than the statewide estimates include parent training (64% verses 44%), transportation (33% verses 14%), and mental health intervention (18% verses 9%). About 30% of the families served statewide and in Umatilla County are offered psychiatric/psychological examination. Drug/alcohol inpatient and outpatient treatment are services offered to one-quarter of the families served statewide; inpatient treatment has an estimate similar to the statewide estimate, but outpatient treatment is only offered to 8% of the parents served in Umatilla County. Services offered more often statewide when compared to Umatilla County include individual counseling, AA/NA, family counseling, family unity, and intensive family counseling.

Services to children are intended to minimize the effects of maltreatment and modify behavior. The most common service offered to children in Oregon (32%) and Umatilla County (22%) is individual counseling. Statewide the second most offered child service is psychological examinations provided to 15% of children entering foster care statewide, but only 5% in Umatilla County. Eight percent of the children entering care statewide and in Umatilla County are offered sexual abuse victim treatment. Thirty-seven percent of the children entering foster care in Umatilla County and 28% statewide are offered no services.

The Umatilla County SOSCF branch office and their community partners work to respond to families at risk of child maltreatment, protect vulnerable children, and prevent reabuse. By serving abusive and neglectful families, the agency endeavors to preserve the emotional and physical well being of the children and families and promote healthier family functioning.


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