By: Jenna Beresheim News Editor
Recent federal report findings regarding Oregon’s Department of Human Services’ responsiveness to child welfare concerns show the department is failing in all 13 standards.
Originally, a 2008 review reported that the state’s department was failing in 11 of 13 standards. With the new 140-page assessment is required every six years and directly impacts federal funding.
After the results of the 2008 assessment, Human Services was given an implementation plan to bring the department back up within standard range.
However director Clyde Saiki wrote an email to all state legislators stating that it was clear the agency did not appropriately implement or track the plan.
The assessment covers areas of child welfare such as the amount of child maltreatment cases, how many of those cases were recurrent, cases that were not conducted with sufficient investigations, and the timeliness of how cases were handled.
Current assessment results, reported by the Statesman Journal, show only 50 percent of cases were addressed in a timely manner, with some of these cases receiving timely responses 15.5 percent of the time.
Due to the shortcomings within the department now presented with this recent assessment, Governor Kate Brown stated that she is disappointed with the review and has ordered an investigation.
Becca Philippi, a 2016 WOU graduate in early childhood education, reported having her own difficulties with Child Protective Services.
“I worked with preschool age children from at-risk families, and we worked closely with [Child Protective Services] on several issues,” said Philippi. “They are severely understaffed there and have way too much on their caseload.”
Philippi mirrored the problems stated in the report, saying, “… issues are not responded to in time or sometimes fell through the cracks completely.”
“When I worked in the public schools, there wasn’t a system in place, and there were multiple instances where I was concerned for a student but frustrated that I couldn’t help the child farther than reporting what I noticed,” said Philippi.
Multiple times within her work, Philippi dealt with students coming into class exhausted or hungry with stories of not eating or sleeping.
Brandon Sherrard, a 2015 Western graduate with an education degree, now works as a licensed substitute teacher who is a mandatory reporter.
“I have no experience with reporting cases as of today,” said Sherrard. “This news is a shock. [It] makes me feel like we’re failing our children.”
If it is suspected that a child is being abused or neglected, please contact your local Department of Human Services office or the police immediately. Polk County has a dedicated child abuse hotline, which can be reached at 503-378-6704 or the Toll Free Marion County Human Services office at 800-854-3508.
Contact the author at Jberesheim11@wou.edu or on Twitter at @WOUjournalnews.
