Five-year analysis shows statewide foster care decline lagging in rural areas
Children in Oregon’s rural counties are more likely to spend at least one day in the foster care system than those living in urban areas, according to an analysis of public data from Oregon’s state child welfare agency by InvestigateWest, distributed through the Associated Press.
InvestigateWest reviewed five years of state records on the number of children from each county who spent time in the foster care system and calculated rates based on each county’s population ages 17 and under. On average, rural counties placed children in foster care at almost double the rate of urban areas, the analysis found.
Rural counties have recorded the highest rates of foster care involvement in Oregon since at least 2020, the reporting found. The disparity is widest in the southeastern part of the state, where some communities posted rates three times higher than Multnomah County, Oregon’s most populous county.
The analysis also documented that the total number of children in foster care statewide has fallen during the five-year period covered. Rural counties saw a slightly slower decline than urban ones.
On average, rural counties placed children at almost double the urban rate, a gap that has persisted since at least 2020, according to the analysis, even as the statewide total has fallen, with rural counties seeing a slightly slower decline than urban ones.