Report on states’ child welfare systems shows Oregon’s progress and needed improvements

A federal report rated Oregon’s performance as it works to improve the child welfare system. Areas where the state received above average scores include:

• Efforts to ensure children in care are placed with relatives when possible.
• Keeping siblings in care together.
• Assessing the physical, dental and mental health needs of children in care.
• Preventing children from entering or re-entering foster care.

In total, Oregon ranked at or above average in 15 of 18 qualitative case review outcomes compared with Puerto Rico and 25 states included in the same federal review cycle.

The report also identified areas where improvement is needed, which include:

• Faster responses to maltreatment reports of children in care.
• Making concerted efforts to support positive relationships between the child in foster care and their parents beyond visitation.
• Making dedicated efforts to achieve reunification, guardianship, adoption or other permanent living arrangements for children in care.

“We are committed to continuing to improve how we serve families and children and the review provides us with important feedback on areas where our work is showing real results and where we need to make adjustments to continue to do better,” said Interim Child Welfare Director Rolanda Garcia. “We are gratified that our commitment to keeping children with relatives and extended family is demonstrated in these results. We know this helps kids to maintain a sense of belonging and stability with family.”

The Children’s Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families conducted the federal review of the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) Child Welfare program. The reviews are done in phases and results are provided in the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) Final Reports to each state. The current comparative analysis is based on Puerto Rico and 25 states’ performance from 2024 to 2025, with the remaining states being reviewed in 2026-2027.

Following the CFSR report, states must develop a plan to address needed improvements. The Administration for Children and Families this year gave states the option to join a new pilot program for its improvement plan called A Home for Every Child. Oregon has opted to be a part of this pilot which is an alternative to the traditional required improvement plan. The pilot simplifies reporting by focusing on the 1:1 ratio of resource homes to children in care.

The CFSR report evaluates case reviews and data indicators of a state’s performance. The case reviews are scored as percentages, and data indicators are a mix of percentages and rates, such as rate of placement moves. In addition, the report scores seven systemic factors determined to be either strengths or areas needing improvement.

Compared with others reviewed, Oregon scored above average in multiple categories. Some examples of those scores:

• 84% in preventing entry or re-entry into foster care, improving 2% from the 2016 CFSR.
• 95% overall for its concerted efforts to keep siblings together. This score represents a 5% improvement over the 2016 CFSR score.
• 91% for concerted efforts to place with relatives, improving 14% over the 2016 CFSR score.
• 83% for its efforts to preserve children’s connections to their neighborhood, community, faith, extended family and friends. Oregon declined 5% in this measure compared to 2016.

“Oregon has made substantial improvements from the last federal review in 2016, surpassing the national average in assessing the needs of children and parents. These gains are an impressive result of Oregon’s focus on strengthening child welfare practice,” Chapin Hall Research Fellow and Data Manager Dr. Leanne Heaton said. Chapin Hall is an independent, nonpartisan policy research center with expertise in child welfare. ODHS works with Chapin Hall on a variety of child welfare initiatives.

Oregon performed below average in several areas including maltreatment in foster care and recurrence of maltreatment within 12 months compared with others reviewed.

ODHS takes seriously any incident of maltreatment of a child. To improve practices, it commissioned an independent statewide safety assessment, and is implementing the resulting Safety Action Plan to improve protections which now include:

• Updated tools that help workers assess and document safety decisions consistently.
• Monthly safety plan reviews for every child.
• Expanded support for foster families to reduce the stress that can contribute to placement instability.

Oregon's reported maltreatment in care rate is an outlier among U.S. states in that its child welfare agency investigates a broader range of individuals for child abuse. According to a report by the Bipartisan Policy Center, conducted as part of the work on Oregon House Bill 4086, Oregon applies lower thresholds for defining maltreatment than other states. These practices result in a higher maltreatment in foster care rate and recurrence rate when compared to other states.

“We proactively developed a safety action plan in 2025 that addresses many of the areas identified as requiring improvement in our federal review,” Garcia said. “We will be detailing those efforts and evaluating where they can be fine-tuned as we prepare our improvement plan. We are proud of what we have achieved so far in better serving children and families. We are committed to doing all we can to ensure the safety of children in our state.”

Resources

Learn more about improvements underway in ODHS Child Welfare.

About the Oregon Department of Human Services

The mission of ODHS is to help Oregonians in their own communities achieve well-being and independence through opportunities that protect, empower, respect choice and preserve dignity.