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March 18, 1999 Oregon had a record number of abused and neglected children in 1998, and almost half of them were 5 or younger By Kate Taylor of The Oregonian staff
The number of Oregon children confirmed as abused and neglected -- almost half of whom are in the first years of life -- leapt to a record high in 1998. Drug abuse by parents fueled the increase, but so did more calls for help from the community and an expanded response by the state's child-protection agency. A report released Wednesday by the State Office for Services to Children and Families shows the total number of confirmed child abuse victims rose 4 percent, to 10,147. Of those cases, nearly half involved the most vulnerable children, those 5 or younger. Child-protection workers say severely troubled parents are leading to the increase. In the past decade, the number of children entering care whose parents have mental disabilities doubled; those whose parents are criminally involved went from one-fourth to half; and the number with parents who have drug and alcohol problems moved from half to 60 percent, according to Portland State University's Child Welfare Partnership. But the surge of very young children in foster care -- from 30 percent 10 years ago to 47 percent now -- also mirrors the agency's new mission: to focus first on the children who are least able to protect themselves. The change is seen most clearly in the state's 3,700 foster homes, where the sound of teen-age phone calls and loud radios has been replaced by lullabies and toddlers' squeals. Foster mothers such as Jill Nelson are taking more and more younger children. And the abuse they see among children under 2 is more disturbing than ever. Nearly all of the 40 children who have passed through Nelson's home have families ravaged by drugs, she said. "They (the children) can be so physically abusive toward one another, just wanting to tear into everyone and everything," she said. She has seen a child as young as 21 months filled with aggression learned in a biological home, having learned to survive by biting, screaming and kicking. "It's very shocking," Nelson said. "It's very sad." And while it is troubling that so many very young children are moving into foster care, it does show that the agency is making swifter decisions about children and making sure they don't languish in dangerous homes. The Best Interest of the Child bill, passed two years ago, mandates that the agency give abusive and neglectful parents only one year to make their home safe before their children are placed in permanent adoptive homes. "We are making sure early on that parents understand -- right up front -- that this is very serious and that things need to change or your child can be placed in another permanent situation," said Betty Uchytil, director of field operations for the child-protective agency. The agency also is able to respond more swiftly to abused and neglected children because last legislative session lawmakers approved 163 more hot line and social workers. The impact of those workers was marked by a 14 percent increase in the number of abuse investigations in 1997. In 1998, that figure rose only 0.7 percent to 17,300 cases, because most of those workers had already been hired. The last few will be on board by April. If Oregonians want to help children of all ages, they have to better finance programs that work to help families before problems become serious and children get hurt, said Ben de Haan, chairman of the board for the Children's Trust Fund of Oregon, a state agency that funds programs to help struggling families. It will take more than just hiring more caseworkers, he said. While SCF officials always stress the importance of community safety nets -- natural links between parents, teachers, neighbors and others that work to protect children -- de Haan said the state needs far more specific strategies to protect children, such as parenting training, anger management and drug treatment programs. The report released Wednesday does bear some good news, Uchytil said. The number of child abuse and neglect deaths is down from 34 in 1997 to 17 in 1998. But the 1997 figure involved clusters of deaths that were neglect-related, such as fires. The increase in reports also shows that communities are more vigilant than ever about their children. Since 1997, the number of abuse reports jumped 12 percent to 31,456 in 1998. There has also been a decline in drug-affected babies. But behind the report's figures is a tragic picture of many older children who are left in abusive homes or are left on the streets because the state doesn't offer enough services. Oregonians will feel the repercussions of that when those older children become chronically unemployed adults, said Don Grossnickle, an analyst with the Child Welfare Partnership at Portland State. Six years ago, those older children stood a much better chance of becoming successful adults because they were still getting services, Grossnickle said. "You've got a limited number of resources, so you put your money into prevention" by moving children out of troubled homes while they're still young, Grossnickle said. "Unfortunately when that happens, the older kids get dropped off." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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