The Secretary of State recently released a scathing audit of the Department of Human Services’ foster care system. As executive director at Court Appointed Special Advocates of Central Oregon, this assessment did not come as a surprise to me. The systemic failures within the child welfare system throughout Oregon is a constant source of heartache for CASA staff and for our 147 local volunteers here in Central Oregon. At CASA, we are required by state law to recruit, train and support volunteers who advocate for the best interests of children in foster care, both in the courtroom, and throughout the wider community.

At CASA, we see children and families at their most vulnerable, when safety nets have failed, extended family is not able or willing to help, and when the regular, daily challenges of safely raising children have simply overwhelmed parents. Sometimes this inability to safely parent is related to untreated mental health issues, sometimes substance abuse, and many times it is a toxic combination of several different stressors. Although at CASA we are often critical of DHS, I want to emphasize that we do not see children routinely removed from their homes without real and tangible threats to the children’s immediate safety, and I am concerned that this criticism is a red herring that might serve to obscure the real and very solvable problems in Oregon’s child welfare system.

For far too long, the Oregon Legislature has underfunded all efforts around child welfare. Throughout Oregon, there is a lack of services and supports that could help keep children safely in their own homes, and this is particularly true once you leave the Interstate-5 corridor. Further, DHS caseworkers in Central Oregon often have twice the recommended caseload, and as a result, caseworker turnover is shockingly high. Foster parent recruitment and training has failed to grow or respond to the reality of households where both adults are in the workforce. This means that many households are simply unable to afford to be a foster placement, as childcare expenses are not currently a part of the foster care reimbursement. Further, many children who enter the foster care system have experienced significant trauma in their young lives, and those children must receive all needed services to build resilience, promote recovery and allow the child to succeed in a family setting.

CASA — the one program that consistently shows it can reduce the total months of time in foster care, thereby reducing childhood trauma and saving state funds — is woefully underfunded. How underfunded? In 2017, due to the $1.4 billion deficit, all Oregon CASA programs received less money than the year before (continuing a disturbing downward trend), despite serving more children. This year, CASA of Central Oregon expects to be appointed to serve over 500 children. This biennium, the Legislature appropriated just 8 percent ($137 per child) of what it costs to ensure that every local child in foster care can receive all needed physical and mental health services and has a trained, supported, trauma-informed and background-checked volunteer who will take the time to get to know the child and his or her unique situation — and then advocate for that child’s best interest in all court proceedings. While CASA is an efficient program, this lack of state support is a real limit to our ability to serve all children in foster care. National CASA standards do not allow us to add volunteers if we lack the paid staff to train and support those volunteers as they embark on the complicated and intense experience of advocating for a child in foster care.

So what can you do to help? Please think about becoming a foster parent or serving as a CASA volunteer. Also, please let your elected officials know that you are paying attention to this crisis, and that it rests with them to end the “penny-wise and pound foolish” cycle of underfunding child welfare.

— Jenna App is the executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of Central Oregon.