Class Action Challenges Oregon’s ‘Constitutionally Inadequate’ Foster Care System

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A proposed class action filed on behalf of children in Oregon’s foster care system alleges that the program is not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide safe and appropriate living conditions.

Filed against Oregon’s governor and the directors of its Department of Human Services (DHS) and Child Welfare offices, the lawsuit says that children’s lives are in the hands of case workers with “too many children to serve, too few resources, and too little training.” Consequently, the defendants allegedly fail to assess and meet the “unique needs of each child” in the system, leaving thousands of them in unsuitable placements.

Due to a shortage of foster homes, placement decisions are based on availability rather than the best option for each child, the suit charges. Thus, the complaint continues, the DHS has inappropriately lodged children in homeless shelters, delinquency facilities and even hospitals, despite having no medical reason for doing so. Additionally, the DHS has refrained from pulling children out of dangerous situations due to a lack of other accommodations, the case says, adding that LGBTQ youths are sometimes stuck in placements where they’re abused or bullied.

Citing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the suit claims that children with mental and physical disabilities—who apparently make up over 50 percent of those in the system—are denied healthcare services, effectively depriving them of equal access to stable foster placements. For example, the case says that one plaintiff, a 15-year-old girl, was denied professionally recommended therapy to recover from past trauma and sent to an out-of-state facility for youths with criminal convictions because there was “no other place” for her.

Further, the lawsuit takes issue with the defendants’ alleged failure to seek permanent adoptive homes in a timely matter, resulting in children remaining in the program until they “age out” at 18. These teens are left without the skills and resources needed to survive on their own and often transition into homelessness, according to the case.

All told, the lawsuit argues that the defendants revictimize children in their custody by violating the children’s right to proper care.