http://www.cffo.org/ en Copyright 2010 2010-08-25T20:09:21+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/health_secretary_sebelius_talks_health_reform_in_portland/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/health_secretary_sebelius_talks_health_reform_in_portland/#When:20:09:21Z Tuesday, August 24, 2010 Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian While some states vigorously resist the federal health reform law, Oregon officials and health industry leaders offered mostly praise of the plan to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who swung through Portland on Tuesday. Sebelius is reaching out to governors and state officials, whose cooperation is crucial in implementing the federal health reform law passed in March. The law makes states responsible for accomplishing much of the overhaul work. “You may be further ahead than other parts of the country,” Sebelius told Oregon health care leaders at a forum organized by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. Some states aren’t exactly cooperating. Attorneys general in 14 states—including Washington—have filed lawsuits to overturn the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance or pay a financial penalty. Missouri voters earlier this month passed a ballot initiative to exempt residents from the mandate to obtain insurance. Similar initiatives go before voters in Arizona and Oklahoma in November. 2010-08-25T20:09:21+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/letters_hard_choices_oregons_money_crisis/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/letters_hard_choices_oregons_money_crisis/#When:20:04:34Z Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Letters to the Editor, The Oregonian Regarding your Aug. 22 story “Have we the guts to make cuts” and the item on four ways to run the state more like a business: How about we pledge to managers in state government a guaranteed and similar level of money for their departments from year to year, and then reward them for finding ways to save money? Currently, managers intentionally spend all the money available to them, even if they don’t need it, in order to ensure they will get a similar budget the next year. A common refrain in business goes, “If you make the boss money or save him money, you’ll make money, too” (through promotions and salary increases). Create a system that incentivizes managers to save money, and we’ll cut more fat out of state government than we could ever hope to by using the blunt hatchet of anti-tax ballot measures. THEO BURKE Northeast Portland ***** We must have just fallen over the cliff. Even The Oregonian is now suggesting it is time to start cutting back several decades of spending more than we have. Government doesn’t do a very good or efficient job of much of anything. We keep adding programs and agencies, and our attempt is to take care of everything that might have a need. We seem under the false impression that if we can just get the enormously wealthy citizens to pay more and more, we can live happily every after and not pay for much of it ourselves. If 25 percent of the population had far more money than they needed, maybe that would work, but the very well-to-do are few and far between, and some of them have already lost much of what they had. So, we are all either going to have to dig a lot deeper, or cut a whole bunch of our programs back. And this means you and me. Are you ready? BARRY ADAMS Southwest Portland ***** Can Oregon downsize government? It’s absolutely essential. Lawmakers and policymakers must use the next legislative session to consolidate and integrate agencies. 2010-08-25T20:04:34+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/family_leave_laws_cover_a_variety_of_situations/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/family_leave_laws_cover_a_variety_of_situations/#When:15:49:51Z Sunday, August 15, 2010 Jeff Burgess, The Register-Guard Coinciding with the release of our new Family Leave Laws Handbook, we continue our series of columns devoted to common family leave issues employers might encounter. This week we examine pregnancy-related incapacity and parental leave following the birth of a baby or following an adoption or foster care placement. Employees who are eligible for protected family leave under the Oregon Family Leave Act or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, or both, and who work for an employer large enough to be covered by those laws, may take leave from their jobs for prenatal and postnatal care and to bond with the child after the birth, adoption or placement in foster care. Pregnancy-related incapacity Both OFLA and FMLA allow pregnant employees to take time off for any period of disability related to pregnancy or childbirth, occurring before or after the birth of the child, or for prenatal care. Pregnancy disability leave is a form of serious health condition leave. 2010-08-18T15:49:51+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/caring_for_oregons_kids/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/caring_for_oregons_kids/#When:15:45:34Z Sunday, August 15, 2010 William C. Bell, The Oregonian In these challenging economic times, there may be no greater public imperative for a state and its communities than taking care of its most vulnerable children. When a child enters the foster care system, the state holds a critical public trust and bears responsibility for the child.  There is also a responsibility held for every vulnerable child who may be at risk of experiencing abuse or neglect, and who may need foster care to protect that child’s safety. While government bears a legal responsibility for children in foster care, and children at risk of needing foster care, government was never intended to play a long term parenting role. Every child deserves to live in a safe, loving and permanent family that provides a lifelong connection. No young person should grow up in a foster care system that is intended to be only a temporary haven. It is highly significant - and very encouraging – to have Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Chief Justice Paul J. De Muniz declare that the safe and equitable reduction of the number of children in Oregon’s foster care system is a top priority. 2010-08-18T15:45:34+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/dhs_director_lauds_progress_in_child_safety_campaign/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/dhs_director_lauds_progress_in_child_safety_campaign/#When:15:41:34Z Friday, August 13, 2010 Alan Gustafson, Statesman Journal State efforts to improve the safety of Oregon children are paying off, Human Services Director Bruce Goldberg said Friday. In his “director’s message,” circulated to employees of the state Department of Human Services, Goldberg highlighted achievements made since a 2007 critical report “showed starkly that we needed to do more to keep children safe in Oregon.” Summing up reported progress, Goldberg wrote: “Today fewer children are being abused or neglected in foster care, fewer children experience repeat abuse, more children are returning sooner and safely to their families, more children who cannot return home are being adopted sooner, and fewer children experience more than two foster family placements.” Goldberg praised the efforts of child welfare workers and managers: “We have come a long way since 2007 thanks to child welfare front line staff and managers across the state and the leadership of Erinn Kelley-Siel, who joined DHS in 2008. We still have more work to do. We cannot rest until every child with whom we have contact is safe. But this kind of progress is heartening.” Read the Original Article 2010-08-18T15:41:34+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/with_budgets_tight_child_care_subsidy_gets_cut/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/with_budgets_tight_child_care_subsidy_gets_cut/#When:20:12:41Z By Shellie Bailey-Shah KATU News and KATU.com Staff Click for Video PORTLAND, Ore. - Low-income parents may find themselves without child care in the next few months after a program meant to help many of them work is being slashed. The latest victim, Employment Related Day Care, is part of the nine percent cut Oregon’s Gov. Ted Kulongoski has ordered across all departments. Terra Buchanan, a single mother of two, will be one of 5,500 families out of 11,000 who will lose the day care subsidy by the end of the year. In all 10,250 children will be affected. She got a letter this weekend that said her day care subsidy will be eliminated Dec. 31. Buchanan gets $631 a month to pay for child care so that she can work at a $13- an-hour job at a call center. Without it, she says she’ll have no choice but to go back on state assistance. “It’s going to have to cost more in the end,” she said. “If they take away my ability to work, I now need their help to pay my rent, my electricity, food, everything that I was doing myself by having a job, I’m now going to need the state to help me with because there’s no way for me to afford it.” The subsidy she receives from the state pays for about two-thirds of her child care expense. But starting Dec. 31, only families who’ve received state welfare assistance - called TANF - in the past two years will qualify for the day care help. Gene Evans, with Oregon’s Department of Human Services, acknowledged these cuts will mean some working parents will lose their jobs. “A reduction in their child care is going to have an impact on their ability to stay employed,” he said. “It’s a bad choice for everybody involved.” Buchanan says it will ultimately cost taxpayers even more money. “If they take it away, there’s no way for me to support my kids, and I’m back on welfare again,” she said. “I’m technically in the system even more if they take this away from us.” At this point, the only thing that can save the day care subsidy is action by the state Emergency Board, which is made up of lawmakers. Last week the board saved a senior in-home care program that was on the chopping block, but the board likely will not meet again until the fall. 2010-07-27T20:12:41+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/state_budget_oregon_cant_move_money_from_roads/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/state_budget_oregon_cant_move_money_from_roads/#When:22:49:26Z Sunday, July 25, 2010 Harry Esteve At Oregon State University in Corvallis, construction is under way on the $12 million Hallie Ford Center, where researchers will focus on the long-term well-being of children and families. At the same time, Malina Newell in Keizer worries that state cuts to day care will threaten the immediate needs of her family. 2010-07-26T22:49:26+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/the_real_winners_in_health_care_reform_kids/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/the_real_winners_in_health_care_reform_kids/#When:16:51:59Z By Mary Brown, David Willis and Arthur Jaffe In March, America made history by passing the Affordable Care Act. As the summer heats up, so does the ongoing debate around the country about what the new health reform law actually means for all Americans. Not everyone is convinced that the law is good for the country. But there is one constituency group that clearly came out as winners in the fight, one group that—although literally necessary for the future survival of our country—can’t speak up for itself and often is ignored. They are our nation’s most important, yet most vulnerable resource: our children. 2010-07-22T16:51:59+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregon_foster_care_improves_in_latest_federal_review/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregon_foster_care_improves_in_latest_federal_review/#When:21:15:25Z Yesterday the Oregonian released a story, Oregon Foster Care Improves in Latest Federal Review, discussing Oregon’s completion of 6 key federal requirements for the safety and well-being of children in foster care. These requirements included returning foster children to their families sooner, reducing abuse and maltreatment, and moving children less frequently while they’re in foster care. We are proud to recognize that the Vice President of Children First for Oregon’s youth program, the Oregon Foster Youth Connection (OFYC), is interviewed in the story, highlighting challenges youth face in state foster care. You can hear more from Nicole by watching her recent video.  Children First commends the Children, Adults and Families Division of DHS for taking the difficult steps necessary to meet the federal requirements, but we know there is still a long way to go. Last May, during National Foster Care Month, we released our 2009 Essay and Policy Recommendations, Keeping Children Safe: Improving Oregon’s Child Welfare System. This essay highlights 9 policy recommendations that CFFO believes will make further impact on keeping children safely in their homes, improving the experience of foster care, and ensuring that youth aging out of the system at age 18 have the support they need to successfully transition to adulthood. Individuals, lawmakers and community leaders all play a role in building a safer future for children and a stronger future for families. By continuing effective efforts that keep kids safe, Oregon can continue to focus on its core values and can be a national leader in child welfare issues. Thank you for the role you play in making Oregon a better place, and for supporting Children First for Oregon.   2010-07-15T21:15:25+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/abuse_of_lane_county_boy_shows_child_welfare_failures_similar_to_death_of_j/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/abuse_of_lane_county_boy_shows_child_welfare_failures_similar_to_death_of_j/#When:15:58:21Z Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:00 PM The Oregonian Michelle Cole, The Oregonian The 9-year-old boy’s injuries included a severe burn and a host of broken bones. But the story he and his siblings told was even more disturbing: Adopted from state foster care, the boy appears to have been abused in his new home. He talks of being tossed in a creek, fed baby formula and forced to sleep outside. If he was good, he got a blanket. Shocked by details in an affidavit filed with the court, state officials and children’s advocates are asking the same question: How could something like this happen again in Lane County, just months after 15-year-old Jeanette Maples died? On Wednesday, the Department of Human Services released a preliminary, three-page report highlighting common themes between the boy and Jeanette, who died in December after child welfare workers failed to respond to repeated reports of her abuse. In both cases, the state had information pointing to trouble in the children’s homes, yet didn’t step in. Officials said further investigation will determine whether the same workers were involved and look for other areas where the system failed. 2010-06-29T15:58:21+00:00