Oklahoma Foster Care Study Shows 1 in 8 Had Confirmed Abuse or Neglect While in Care UPDATED

Three hundred and seventy four cases of children in care for at least 60 days were reviewed for this study. Nearly 55 percent had 4 or more different placements during their stay.

Other major findings include the following:

• “12 percent of reviewed children had been victims of confirmed abuse or neglect at some point while in DHS custody. An additional 9 percent of the children were the subject of maltreatment investigations that resulted in services being recommended, even though abuse was not confirmed.
• 78 percent of the alleged perpetrators of maltreatment of children in DHS custody were foster parents.
• Families in 92 percent of the cases examined had at least one prior maltreatment report before the report that resulted in the child’s most recent entry into state custody. One-fourth of the families of children in the sample had 10 or more such prior reports.
• Adequate safety assessments were conducted in only 45.5 percent of the cases where trial reunifications with families were attempted.
• Only 8 percent of the children examined remained with their initial placement, while 13.9 percent where shuttled among 10 or more placements.
• 19.2 percent of the children who were less than a year old when they entered custody had experienced six or more placements by June 1.
• 29.1 percent of the children reviewed had five or more primary caseworkers during their stays in DHS custody.”

http://newsok.com/study-spotlights-abuse-in-foster-care/article/3541846

Update: DHS denies the study findings. ” DHS claims its safety rating is 99.8 percent.” Watchdog group “Children’s Rights hired an independent group, the Center for the Support of Families, to put together the study.” DHS is in a class-action lawsuit against Children’s Rights.

http://www.kfor.com/news/local/kfor-news-dhs-study-flaws-story,0,2397724.story
[KFOR 2/17/11 by Adam Mertz]

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