In Salem, Oregon, news sources are reporting that workers for child welfare discounted or ignored reports of abuse in a foster home located in Washington County for over a decade and continued to send children there. The workers placed foster children in the home up until January when the father was arrested for sexually molesting a girl who was left in his care.
After an internal investigation by the Department of Human Services, questions have been raised about what happened in the home and also to the 83 children that were abused in other state certified family foster homes in 2009.
In Oregon, 14,000 children spent at least one day in state foster care last year and it is reported that the rate of abuse in the foster care system is far lower than in the overall population. However, many child welfare officials say they were disturbed by what they have been learning and intend to make sure the state fulfills its responsibilities to protecting the safety and well-being of children who have endured abuse by parents and others.
On Wednesday, the department announced that it would create a team of outside experts to examine whether the state adequately investigates all foster parents in the claims that are made against them. The team will then report back to the Department within 90 days.
Erinn Kelley-Siel, head of the state's Children, Adults and Families Division said, "We want to understand whether there is something different about the way our system responds to reports of abuse by foster parents."
If you were abused in foster care, contact us to discuss your case and situation with a foster care abuse lawyer.
After an internal investigation by the Department of Human Services, questions have been raised about what happened in the home and also to the 83 children that were abused in other state certified family foster homes in 2009.
In Oregon, 14,000 children spent at least one day in state foster care last year and it is reported that the rate of abuse in the foster care system is far lower than in the overall population. However, many child welfare officials say they were disturbed by what they have been learning and intend to make sure the state fulfills its responsibilities to protecting the safety and well-being of children who have endured abuse by parents and others.
On Wednesday, the department announced that it would create a team of outside experts to examine whether the state adequately investigates all foster parents in the claims that are made against them. The team will then report back to the Department within 90 days.
Erinn Kelley-Siel, head of the state's Children, Adults and Families Division said, "We want to understand whether there is something different about the way our system responds to reports of abuse by foster parents."
If you were abused in foster care, contact us to discuss your case and situation with a foster care abuse lawyer.
