Director's Message

December 16, 2005

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they are going to catch you in next." Henry Ward Beecher

My daughter reads these weekly messages and told me that I should find some "funnier" quotes. All the ones I was using were "too serious." I explained that I had been writing about either serious subjects or the wonderful people who work at DHS and that I didn't want to appear disrespectful. Her reply, as any parent of a young teenager could predict, was "whatever." But it got me thinking about kids and childhood.

I'm glad my daughter had the reaction she did, because childhood should be a time of happiness and security. Unfortunately, for too many children it is a time of tragedy and suffering. Over the past month I have spent time at our child abuse hotline, with child protection workers, foster parents, judges, attorneys and many others who work to keep children safe.

When children can no longer remain safe in their homes, they enter the state foster care system, which the Department of Human Services oversees. This past year more than 13,000 children were in foster care in Oregon. That is a startling number. Add to that the fact that, for the past two years, more children have entered foster care than exited.

How do we start turning these numbers around so that fewer children are entering foster care because more are able to live safely with their own families?

The four major problems facing families of abused and neglected children are parental drug or alcohol abuse; parental involvement with law enforcement; head of household unemployed; and domestic violence.

The best way to prevent child abuse and neglect is to support families and provide parents with the skills and resources they need. I want to recognize the work and dedication of our child welfare staff. However, we all have a role to play in building strong communities and healthy families in which children are valued and supported.

The problems facing families cut across all our programs -- substance-abuse treatment, health care, a clean safe environment, hunger/food stamps/nutrition, pre-natal care, mental health, and more. As such, in our daily work we all contribute to keeping children safe.

And it's not just in our work that we contribute. This month, thanks to your generosity and the organizational work of many, $4,500 was raised out of DHS during Domestic Violence Awareness month. As a result, this year nine organizations that are working on domestic violence issues around the state will receive $500 checks. (Those organizations haven't been notified yet -- I'll identify them in a future message.) Great work, everyone.

We also know that early intervention works. In Clackamas County, for example, Healthy Start provided intensive home-based services to 200 families in 2004 -- covering a broad array of issues facing the families there. Of those, more than 95 percent reported increased knowledge in child development and positive discipline, and better parenting skills. Substance abuse decreased by 44 percent and violence by 50 percent after 18 months of home visitation.

Recognizing the strengths of a family and identifying its needs have been a foundation of Oregon's child welfare system for the past several years.

Oregon's child welfare system continues to develop community resources by working closely with partners and advocates, schools, hospitals and communities of faith. The state also partners with numerous organizations, including the Oregon Foster Parent Association, Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Citizen Review Boards, Multidisciplinary Teams and law enforcement, and the Juvenile Rights Project.

If we can identify a family's needs earlier, including the stress factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect -- such as inadequate housing, employment issues, or substance abuse -- we will have a better chance of children not coming into foster care later.

So let me end here, where I started, with a quote. We all need to smile. Have a nice weekend.

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."~Dave Barry

This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.

If you have a disability and need this message to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us, or call (503) 947-5107. You can also fax your request to (503) 373-7690, or call (503) 947-5080 for TTY service. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.