Oregon Lets Other States Deal with Foster Kids with Disabilities
Another Liberal Fail Policy. Oregon’s Disabled Foster Kids Join the Homeless as a Stain on the State
PORTLAND — When news broke that Oregon was sending foster care children to out-of-state facilities at an increasing rate, Child Welfare director Marilyn Jones responded by writing an opinion piece assuring members of the public: “We know where they are every day, we know how they are doing.”
Jones also promised the state was working with independent, third-party professionals “to monitor the child’s well-being and conduct, in-person meetings every 30 days.”
That’s not true.
First, reports surfaced of a 9-year-old Oregon girl who was dropped off at a facility in Montana and then did not received a visit from a third-party contractor or Child Welfare official for six months. She was also repeatedly injected with drugs to make her lethargic.
Now, the agency has reported another 9-year-old, with an intellectual disability, was in a facility in Illinois from August 2018 until February 2019 without being visited by an Oregon caseworker or any other caseworker.
More than 80 Oregon children in foster care are placed out of state.
“Two children is too many children to fall through the cracks,” Jones told OPB in an interview Wednesday. “I can tell you we are immediately reacting to that. … We are trying our best to do right by every child.”
