At a time when the state of Oregon has struggled to find proper placements for children in foster care — instead, sending them to out-of-state placements or converted jails — the computer program Child Welfare relies on for basic information does not always reliably reflect the actual beds available.
“Critical information about available foster beds is not tracked consistently in OR-Kids (the computer management system),” stated an audit by the Oregon Secretary of State’s office released Wednesday.
The system is cumbersome for caseworkers, not intuitive and has resulted in “worker dissatisfaction and distrust of the primary tool” caseworkers are forced to rely on, the audit found.
For example, to find out whether a person has abused a child – critical information when trying to find a placement for a child – it took clicking through 42 different screens to determine whether the person had a founded allegation of child abuse or neglect.
The system, known as OR-Kids, has been plagued with bugs and signs of ineffectiveness for years. Oregon Child Welfare officials have tried to fix it despite employee complaints and problems since the program first launched in 2011.
The audit found the system is “functional for basic case management” but that it’s so difficult to use it threatens caseworker efficiency. It also risks the accuracy of Child Welfare data. That could both threaten the wellbeing of children placed in foster care and could put federal funding at risk.
The audit recommends Child Welfare make usability improvements and offer more training. The state’s new Child Welfare director, Rebecca Jones Gaston, said the work is underway.
“As we transform our Child Welfare system into one focused on prevention, safety and improving outcomes for children and families, data integrity and accessibility will continue to be a top priority,” Gaston said in a statement.
The state’s foster care system has been under mounting pressure to improve. Disability Rights Oregon and a national advocacy group have accused the state of re-traumatizing children in care and violating their rights. The groups filed a federal lawsuit in April.
The same month, Gov. Kate Brown issued an executive order creating a Child Welfare Oversight Board charged with improving the state’s beleaguered child welfare system.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
