Oregon’s child welfare services oversee 4,500 foster children. (Annie Otzen/Getty Images)
State officials and advisers are working on a child welfare proposal for this year’s session they hope would encourage more providers to offer treatment to foster children with complex needs, including mental conditions.
But the proposal would ease certain regulations and has attracted early opposition, including from a state senator who said it would roll back many of the reforms passed by the Legislature.
Michelle Pfeiffer, the Oregon Department of Human Services’ legislative child welfare coordinator, told lawmakers recently that the proposal is designed to encourage the placement of children who’ve been difficult to place and have diverse and high-acuity needs.
Pfeiffer and Molly Miller, deputy director for equity and workforce development for the Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare Division, said the August death by suicide of a 17-year-old foster child in Eugene highlighted the need for additional treatment options.