Published: April 3, 2018

In early 2018, Oregon’s Secretary of State released a year-long audit of Oregon’s Child Welfare system outlining an overburdened system that is failing many of the state’s most vulnerable children. The findings come as no surprise to DHS members who — through our union — published a report last year with near identical findings:

  • Oregon has a foster parent shortage.
  • Caseworkers are overburdened.
  • Foster parents have a lack support and guidance.
  • The entire system is outdated and inadequately funded.

The audit outlines chronic mismanagement leading to high caseloads for frontline staff and a lack of resources for the Oregonians who need them most. As part of an ongoing series on Oregon’s Child Welfare system, Portland DHS Caseworkers and SEIU 503 leaders Rosanne Scott and Kelly Paluso appeared on OPB’s Think Out Loud in early April to discuss the State Department’s audit. Kelly and Rosanne were able provide the context that only frontline staff have deep understanding of.

Rosanne Scott: “I have personally cried at work. I think the hard part is that kind of the things that I’ve described…it’s tiring, it’s very fast-paced work, and just when things get really intense, and sort of a normal person might need a break, is when you have to just be completely on-game and responsive and working around the clock sometimes to make sure things get done. So it’s a very high-stress job.”

Kelly Paluso: “There is a lot of prevention work available, especially for those front-end workers, who are like, ‘You know what, this isn’t quite a safety threat, right? This isn’t enough to remove a kid.’ But there are some concerns, and they’re headed down that path. So instead of just closing it and saying, ‘Bye, good luck, hope I don’t see you again,’ we could actually be doing some referrals for services right then, and get some folks in and helping out and doing what’s needed to prevent that [abuse or neglect] from happening. But we don’t have the funds for those kinds of resources. We barely have enough funds for the resources for the families that we are working with.”

Click here and listen to Rosanne & Kelly’s full interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud.