skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report Touts Oregon's Progress in Foster and Kinship Care

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 20, 2015   

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon leads the nation in a new Annie E. Casey Foundation report that says children in state custody do best when they're cared for in family settings.

Oregon has the lowest percentage of kids placed in group homes or institutional care, at 4 percent. Of the 8,200 Oregon children in the system, more than nine in 10 are placed with relatives or foster families.

Lisa McMahon, who heads the Oregon Foster Youth Connection, noted that doesn't mean these families have an easy time - and state lawmakers need to keep that in mind.

"Maybe they need extra training, maybe they need respite care - so, thinking about what is it that a foster family needs to be able to support youth, in gaining some stability and permanency," she said. "There's so much more than the 'safety model' of ... providing a bed. They need the support to support the whole youth."

Foster care is a big topic in the Legislature this year. Bills are being considered to create a task force to support and improve foster care (Senate Bill 311); to allow foster children to open their own savings accounts at age 12 (House Bill 2889), and to support their involvement in extracurricular activities (HB 2890).

Another proposal (SB 632) would create pilot programs to focus on about 900 Oregon kids who have been in multiple foster homes. McMahon said the latest research shows children's behavior issues after placement often are reactions to trauma.

"I've heard from many foster parents who feel like, often, they're alone once the child shows up in their home," she said. "And many foster parents have acknowledged that it would be helpful to have some sort of a support system that they could call ... at 10:00 at night, when something's happening that they're not sure how to manage."

She said Oregon's foster care system does have challenges: a high rate of children entering foster care, and an average length of stay of about a year and a half, which also is considered high. According to the Casey Foundation report, states should support services for families in crisis to minimize the need for foster care.

The report is online at aecf.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021