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Director's Message
May 14, 2004
To: DHS Employees
From: Gary Weeks, Director
In this week's message:
1. Earlier and more effective intervention
2. Teen pregnancy prevention
3. Food for thought
4. Staff news
1. Earlier and more effective intervention
After a child is placed in state custody, have you ever wondered why "the system" did not respond sooner to the identified needs of the child's family?
Did you ever wish that a parent's substance abuse problem or a child's mental health condition had been recognized and addressed early enough to avoid a child abuse situation from ever developing?
Unfortunately, we know the answer to both questions is yes. In a report we issued earlier this week (The Status of Children in Oregon's Child Protection System 2003), we present numbers that reveal the extent of this problem. But the numbers also demonstrate that we can do something about it.
A 12 percent increase in abuse. In federal fiscal year (FFY) 2003, we confirmed about 9,500 cases of abuse or neglect, a 12 percent increase over calendar year 2002. And, for the first time in three years, more children entered our foster care system than left it. While we may attribute some of this increase to the attention child abuse has been receiving in the press, it is clear the abuse rate has increased.
Preventing abuse before it occurs. So while we may be doing a good job in getting the child out of the home once the abuse occurs, we need to improve in dealing with a more important aspect of the problem — recognizing the potential for abuse in a family and working to prevent it before it occurs.
Of all the children who entered foster care, almost 24 percent were from families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. An additional 11% of the children were from families who had received those benefits at some point during the prior year.
As you know, TANF provides cash assistance to low-income families with children, helping the families to become self-sufficient. In order to receive TANF benefits, families must work closely with DHS and other social service caseworkers, so that their situations and specific needs can be properly assessed.
Recognizing the indicators early. By all measures, our TANF connection to more than one-third of the families of children entering foster care should give us the opportunity to learn about the family's entire situation — enough to recognize the indicators of potential child abuse or neglect before they occur.
Holistic approach. When doctors take this approach, it is called "holistic medicine" — viewing the patient as a whole person, and focusing not only on physical health but also on emotional, spiritual, social, and mental well being.
In the same manner, we must take a holistic approach to a family's self-sufficiency. We must treat that family as a complex unit, made up of different individuals with different needs, different challenges and different stressors, all interconnecting through the family structure.
It is not enough to find a person a job, if the person does not have transportation to get there or adequate housing for his or her family.
It is not enough to find housing and employment, if we don't address other issues such as the individual's mental illness or substance abuse problem or domestic violence in the home.
We must do more. We realized this a few years ago, and made some progress in aligning our self-sufficiency and child welfare programs to ensure that our intervention was earlier and more effective. But the numbers tell us that we must do more.
In line with this, and with Governor Kulongoski Children's Charter, we will continue our work to develop a more integrated approach to better serve vulnerable children and families in the TANF program. We will, of course, take a reasoned approach to this. It does not reflect in any way a change in our commitment to the TANF program.
Leading this initiative. As you may have read earlier this week, Donna Middleton, former director of the State Commission on Children and Families, has agreed to join DHS and work with Ramona Foley on this critical initiative for us.
Donna has a great deal of experience with the development of comprehensive and coordinated human service delivery and is extremely well respected for her work both at the state and local levels.
She will bring a fresh approach and a great deal of energy and passion to the job. Having Donna support our existing CAF work, I'm confident we can move forward in our efforts to integrate our service delivery and foster a true holistic approach to dealing with those vulnerable families who need our services.
2. Teen pregnancy prevention
Teen pregnancy is a serious problem in our society that can be linked to a number of other social issues. It thus serves as another example of our need to focus on the "whole."
Bringing a baby into this world to be cared for by a mother who is still a child herself — and who, in many cases, must cope without the financial and emotional support of the father — is not only unfair to the baby, but puts a tremendous burden on society.
The statistics are overwhelming. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reported in 2002 that teen childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers at least $7 billion each year in health care, foster care, criminal justice, and public assistance, as well as in lost tax revenues.
Almost one-half of all teen mothers and more than three-quarters of unmarried teen mothers began receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child. And teen mothers are less likely to complete the education necessary to qualify for well-paying jobs.
If more children were born to parents who are ready and able to care for them, I believe we would see a significant reduction in many of the social problems affecting our youth — from school failure and crime to child abuse and neglect.
The young mother. But beyond the economic and societal impact, and beyond the challenges the child will no doubt face in starting life in a less-than-ideal environment, there is the tragedy of what teen pregnancy can do to the life of the young mother.
A 14-year old girl in ninth grade gets pregnant. Instead of going to math and science classes, deciding whether to play soccer or basketball or meeting her friends at the mall, her life as a child is, in many ways, over. She is now faced with an almost certain major life change — and with decisions that would be difficult for most adults.
Should she have the baby? What are the moral, religious, medical and other implications of choosing to not give birth? If she has the child, where will she get the time and money to properly care for it? Will she be able to continue with school? Will the father become a part of their lives? Should she consider giving the child up for adoption, and how will she deal with the emotions involved with that?
Clearly, this would not only be a tremendous burden on her, but also on her family. And if the family is already in a vulnerable situation due to other factors, it is easy to see how this could intensify their problems.
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. Governor Kulongoski has proclaimed May 2004 as Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month. I'm pleased that our teen pregnancy rate in Oregon has continued to drop steadily over the last ten years. I'm also proud that our department's teen pregnancy prevention unit (TPP) has met or exceeded its benchmark goal over the past few years.
In collaboration with a number of state and community organizations, TPP has developed a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Action Agenda with seven strategies designed to unite Oregonians in this effort. It, along with a wealth of other information can be found on our Teen pregnancy prevention Web page.
I want to thank the TPP staff for the exceptional job they've done in providing this information, and also those in the field, who have consistently taken the extra step in reaching out to the people they serve. They, along with our community partners, have made a tremendous difference.
What can we do? Finally, we must ask ourselves what can we do to help alleviate this problem. For those of us who are parents, I believe our primary obligation is to be there for our teenagers. We must provide them with love, emotional support, and an open mind in listening to their problems and answering their questions.
Knowledge is the other critical piece. As our children grow into young adulthood, we must ensure they have access to comprehensive, accurate and age-appropriate information about the sexual and health issues they will be facing — and about the choices they will have.
Although parents can look to schools and government organizations like DHS to help provide that information, they must ultimately take responsibility for communicating it to their children in their own way.
3. Food for thought
"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
— Margaret Mead
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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 a document on this Web site to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us or call (503) 945-7021, fax (503) 373-7690 or TTY (503) 947-5080. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.
Oregon Department of Human Services
Director's Office
500 Summer St. NE E15, Salem, OR 97301-1097
Phone: (503) 945-5944
Fax: (503) 378-2897
TTY: (503) 947-6214
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