The state says it's rolling out a new system to keep more children at home -- rather than placing them in foster care when there's a problem.
Children who enter foster care remain on average for nearly two years. So the Oregon Department of Human Services is rolling out the 'Differential Response' model starting in Lane, Lake and Klamath counties.
It gives social workers the flexibility to allow families to keep their kids at home if they act immediately to reduce any safety threat.
Child welfare director Lois Day says it's for families where things like poverty have led to neglect, rather than where someone is actively abusing a child, "Perhaps some crisis has occurred in the family and for a limited period of time they're unable to manage and their children end up being unsafe," said Day.
"But these people are generally not dangerous to other children in the community."
The model doesn't require a finding of abuse and the parent doesn't have to be listed in the state data base.
Other states that have adopted the model report fewer out-of-home placements and no negative impact on child safety.
Copyright 2014 Oregon Public Broadcasting