Oregon DHS Class Action Says Foster Kids Housing Practice Illegal

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Two advocacy groups filed a class action lawsuit in Oregon federal court Tuesday against the Oregon Department of Human Services, seeking to end the alleged practice of housing foster kids in hotels and state offices.

“Tonight, some of the most vulnerable children in the state of Oregon will sleep on temporary cots in state offices; in hotel rooms; in hospitals, despite being cleared for discharge; or in juvenile detention facilities, despite the absence of any criminal charge against them. Some may have spent the day sitting in a DHS office, missing school,” the lawsuit says.

“These are children over whom the state has custody. Some are as young as two years old; many are children with disabilities; all have experienced trauma. The state has removed these children from their homes despite not having any home to move them to,” the class action claims.

Attorneys from the Oregon Law Center and Youth Rights & Justice brought the class action lawsuit on behalf of two unnamed minor foster kids, six- and four-year old girls, claiming the Oregon Department of Human Services’ practice of housing some children in hotels and offices violates federal and state laws.

The two minor plaintiffs were allegedly shuffled through a series of temporary housing arrangements in recent months.

The six-year-old, who was the subject of 19 abuse and neglect complaints before the Department of Human Services took custody of her in May, has “severe mental health challenges” including post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the court filing.

She cycled through 20 different caregivers in eight locations over the course of two months, including staying at hotels where more than a dozen different caseworkers watched over her.

A disproportionate share of the foster kids parked in temporary quarters have mental disabilities including behavioral and psychiatric impairments, and the state has described them as “hard to place” with foster families and programs, according to the lawsuit.

By housing these children in hotels, offices and even a juvenile detention facility, the state denied them access to the family-like environment and stability that it’s supposed to provide for all children in its care, the complaint states.

Specifically, the attorneys argue this housing practice violates the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as other federal and state anti-discrimination and child welfare laws.

Along with the Oregon DHS, the complaint names its director Clyde Saiki and Deputy Director Reginald Richardson as defendants, and describes the practice of “rendering foster children functionally homeless” as illegal and unconscionable.

“If a parent fails to provide adequate housing for her child, she might well be subject to DHS intervention in Oregon. … But inadequate housing is precisely what DHS is providing unplaced children in its custody,” according to the class action.

The complaint further claims that DHS inflicts emotional harm on foster kids by moving them too much.

Many foster kids are already traumatized or have mental health conditions — vulnerabilities exacerbated by the moves, the lawsuit alleges.

It says that DHS documents show the agency is well aware of its own shortcomings, yet has not taken the necessary steps to reform.

DHS has reportedly been under intense scrutiny this year as media outlets have revealed child abuse at foster homes and agency mismanagement.

Last year, more than 11,000 children spent at least one day in Oregon foster care, according to DHS data.

The lawsuit seeks class action status for an unspecified number of Oregon foster children whom they alleged have been similarly housed in an inappropriate temporary location.

The attorneys are asking for a judge to bar the state from housing foster kids in these temporary locations, and instead place them in the “least-restrictive, most family-like, safe environment possible.”

They are not seeking money damages, apart from attorney fees.

The plaintiffs are represented by Emily Teplin Fox, Ryan Newby, and Ed Johnson of the Oregon Law Center; and Angela Sherbo of Youth, Rights & Justice.

The Oregon Foster Kids Class Action Lawsuit is A.R., a minor child and B.C., a minor child by their guardian ad litem Richard Vangelisti v. State of Oregon, et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-01895, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division.