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Oct 22, 2023

Former Oregon foster child sues Department of Human Services

A woman who spent 16 years of her childhood in the state’s foster care system is suing the Oregon Department of Human Services, alleging the agency placed her in foster homes where she suffered abuse

A woman who spent 16 years of her childhood in the state’s foster care system is suing the Oregon Department of Human Services, alleging the agency placed her in foster homes where she suffered abuse and failed to protect her when they knew.

The woman filed the $14.9 million lawsuit earlier this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the agency, which has not yet filed a response. In 1998, as a 7-month old baby, she entered the foster care system because her parents had addiction, court records show. For the next 16 years, she was shuffled among different foster homes and state-run residential programs, where she faced physical, sexual and emotional abuse, according to the lawsuit.

“DHS made no effort to intervene at various times to protect plaintiff by removing plaintiff from such abuse and, in fact, continued to place the plaintiff into foster homes where this abuse continued throughout a significant portion of the time plaintiff was under the care, custody and control of the Defendant, DHS,” the complaint states.

The Capital Chronicle is not naming her as a victim of sexual abuse.

A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment on the lawsuit.

It’s the latest child welfare-related lawsuit to hit the state agency, which also faces a separate federal class-action complaint over its placement of children in hotel rooms for extended lengths. A federal judge in July ordered the appointment of a special master, essentially an outside expert, to recommend to the court how to end the practice, Oregon Public Broadcasting has reported.

In this case, some of the details are murky because — as the lawsuit points out — the state agency would not give her complete records about her time in the state system and instead blacked out information about the foster parents and homes.

“Because defendant has refused to provide unredacted records regarding plaintiff’s placements, plaintiff is unable to determine the identity of the abusers and homes where this abuse occurred,” the lawsuit states. “During this 16-year time period, as referenced in DHS’s own heavily redacted case file, DHS became aware that plaintiff was being physically, sexually and mentally abused.”

The lawsuit includes a redacted therapist’s note, which acknowledges the girl and her siblings were moved from a foster home over concerns about harm and sexual abuse in the home. At the time, the plaintiff was 6 years old.

The lawsuit alleges the agency was negligent and failed to properly monitor and screen foster parents.

Due to the trauma involved, the woman needs access to her complete unredacted agency records to identify her abusers and understand the extent of the injuries, the lawsuit states.

Due to the abuse, she also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other conditions that decrease her quality of life years later, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks $14.9 million in damages, including past and future medical expenses, the loss of future income and noneconomic damages.

The lawsuit asks for a jury to determine that final award amount.

This story was originally published by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: [email protected]. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.

The state has spent about $25 million housing 462 kids in foster care in hotels since 2018. State of Oregon officials regularly spend more than $2,560 per kid, per night (which includes lodging, staffing and food) to house a child in temporary lodging.

Oregon has spent more than $25 million housing 462 kids in foster care in hotels after the state promised to stop the practice as part of a legal settlement in 2018. On Tuesday, a federal judge took the rare step of appointing an outside expert to oversee the state’s Department of Human Service agency, noting the state agency has not figured out how to wind down the practice known as “temporary lodging” on its own.

Despite previous statements to the contrary, state agency officials said they are not trying to narrow the type of abuse records that can be accessed by the public.

Tags: Oregon, Foster Care