Brown creates Child Welfare Oversight Board to address immediate issues in child welfare

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Salem, Ore. — Governor Kate Brown today issued an executive order that establishes the Child Welfare Oversight Board to advise her direction to the Department of Human Services (DHS) so it can more effectively address Oregon’s child welfare crisis.

“Oregon’s child welfare system is overburdened to the point where I have serious concerns about the state’s ability to sufficiently serve our most vulnerable children,” said Governor Brown. “While DHS is working on long-term solutions to right-size the foster care system, there needs to be immediate action to protect children in care today. That’s why today I am establishing a Child Welfare Oversight Board and bringing in additional resources and expertise.”

Executive Order 19-03 establishes the board and outlines its areas of focus. The Governor will also deploy a crisis management team to implement the Board’s recommendations and embed a senior member of the Governor’s Office staff at DHS to ensure directives are implemented.

The Board will advise Governor Brown on issues including:

  • Out-of-state foster child placements, including assessing each child that is being housed out of state and finding a placement in Oregon.

  • Building system capacity, including therapeutic foster care, general foster care, and services for children with specialized needs.

  • Addressing agency operational challenges, such as public records and communications, hiring, and human resources.

Governor Brown is also directing DHS and the Child Welfare Program to use their authority to suspend or amend any agency policies or rules that make it difficult to address challenges in the child welfare system. This could include policies or rules related to hiring or contracting.

“Oregon’s challenges in foster care have been long-standing, and our children and families deserve better,” said Governor Brown. “We need to mobilize quickly if we want to improve the lives of those in Oregon’s foster care system.

“I also want to be clear that the child welfare system belongs to all of us as Oregonians, not just DHS or state government. Part of the reform in child welfare is engaging communities in being part of the solution."

DHS partners with Every Child Oregon to connect community members with volunteer opportunities to help children and families. To learn how you can help, click here

Press release provided from the Office of Kate Brown, Governor of Oregon.

UPDATED: DHS Director Fariborz Pakseresht issues statement of Governor Browns Order

The foundation of all the work done at the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) is safety for the children and adults we serve across our five major programs. Our vision for children who cannot live with their families safely is to enter a foster care system where they are protected; get the services and supports they need to heal in a stable, caring environment in their communities, and grow to thrive in adulthood.

Oregon’s child safety system, particularly its Child Welfare program within DHS, has been extremely strained for several decades. During the past two years, there have been multiple internal and independent assessments and audits of the agency and its Child Welfare program that all point to the same list of solutions. We have a clear picture of what must be done, we have defined the strategies to correct the problems, we have been building the foundation for the corrective work and we are making progress.

Transforming a statewide child safety system into a robust child well-being system will take time. It requires meeting the demands of today while building the system for the future. We appreciate Governor Kate Brown continuing to prioritize the safety of our children and families. We welcome the additional support her Executive Order provides to increase our capacity and capabilities to improve Oregon’s Child Welfare system today and for the future. Keeping Oregon’s foster children safe and helping our families heal and thrive takes all of us working together. We look forward to working productively and cooperatively with the Governor’s designees.

We have built the foundation for the corrective work and we are making progress by:

  • Putting the structure and systems in place to right-size the foster care system by safely reducing the number of children entering the system through community-based supports for at-risk families and reducing disproportionality.

  • Stabilizing the Child Welfare workforce by reducing turnover and bringing caseloads closer to the national average so caseworkers have more time to work face-to-face with families, and improving staff training and supports.

  • Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children through a series of improvements ranging from consistent screening of child abuse reports to in-home nursing visits.

  • Expanding community-based placement options so every foster child is safe and in the care settings that meets their unique needs in Oregon, whether it be family foster care or a therapeutic setting.

  • Basing our decisions in research and data, coupled with the professional experience of our staff, to ensure we get to the root causes of problems and take actions that are child-centered and effective.

  • Expanding our allies because the Child Welfare program cannot address the factors that bring families to our attention or resolve the capacity crisis alone.

The support from the Governor will provide the necessary resources to help the Department continue and accelerate progress to ensure the Child Welfare program in Oregon achieves the goals we all share.