Programs to keep children safe by helping families with a range of services and material supports continued to reduce foster care placements in 2024. These programs improve family stability and prevent the severe stress and poor health outcomes children experience when removed from their families. One measure of the success of these programs is the number of foster care placements. There were 4,481 children in care at the end of the 2024, down from 4,590 in 2023.
This approach is part of Oregon’s shift away from the legacy of a child welfare removal system built in the mid-19th century with the rise of industrialization. Long factory hours and a lack of child care and other services for low-income working families resulted in widespread policies of child removal that continued into the 21st century often based on poverty, racism and bias.
Child removal generally results in poor outcomes for children that last long into adulthood. Multiple studies have shown that children who grow up with their biological families or relatives have better mental, physical and behavioral health outcomes than peers who enter foster care.
“We have a moral imperative to work together to make sure children feel, and are, safe in our communities. Child Welfare is a big part of that, but real child safety requires us to make this a priority with concrete outcomes in communities. Safety and prevention of child abuse is related to basic security for families. That is why ODHS is changing its approach to help early on with things like housing, in-home parent coaching, assistance with domestic violence services or addressing substance use disorder,” said Child Welfare Director Aprille Flint-Gerner.
Oregon is among the states leading changes to child welfare by investing in programs that stabilize and keep families together, part of a nationwide trend that contributed to the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act in 2018. Family First allows states to use federal matching funds for evidence-based services designed to support families and keep children safely at home or with relatives whenever possible.
Oregon is implementing the prevention components of Family First through the expansion of an early childhood home visiting program, family therapy models, and programs in partnership with Tribes in Oregon. Oregon also supports placement with relatives through Greater Oregon Behavioral Health, Inc.’s Oregon Kinship Navigator.
In addition to Family First, other family stability and preservation programs across eight ODHS districts have shown success in keeping children safely at home. At the Alberta, Gresham, Washington and Polk sites, 92% of the 314 children in these programs avoided foster care and remained safely with families. Across Douglas, Coos/Curry, Jackson/Josephine, Klamath sites, 80% of 370 children remained safely at home. Most importantly, families are saying they see a positive change in the way these programs are partnering with them to improve safety in the home.
One mother who worked with the ODHS Alberta branch in NE Portland described the experience of working through recovery and finding stable housing with the help of ODHS. She described rebuilding her life from scratch with her young son, saying “I was so uneasy about ODHS at first, but with support from my caseworker and coach, I found it supportive in every way, materially, emotionally, mentally. When I needed a car seat and a stroller, ODHS helped. I have been sober for two years now, my son is doing well, and I am finishing my GED at Clackamas Community College,” she said. “I hope to become a peer mentor for other parents who need support from someone who has been through something similar.”
Other core ODHS safety programs serve the general community, including families who are not involved in the child welfare system. Programs include providing safe sleep education and sleep surfaces, substance use disorder and infant safety planning and suicide prevention, as well as material and economic assistance.
“All of these programs weave together to prevent child welfare involvement and improve the economic security, health and well-being of families,” Flint-Gerner said. “We need more people at the table to define child safety and help take concrete steps with communities.”
About the Oregon Department of Human Services
The mission of ODHS is to help Oregonians in their own communities achieve well-being and independence through opportunities that protect, empower, respect choice and preserve dignity.Oregon Department of Human Services
503-509-9604
https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/
