SALEM, OR -- April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Oregon’s child welfare agency is changing its abuse prevention strategy. Oregon DHS Child Welfare Director Aprille Flint-Gerner says the agency is more focused on supporting the whole family. "Ending child poverty, making sure that families just have what they need, absolutely can put a dent in our numbers of children that have to unnecessarily experience foster care." But she says the approach requires the entire community, "We really can’t do it all."

Flint-Gerner says poverty is often mistaken for neglect. "When we’re working together as a community to make sure that there are services, that there are resources, that we have caring community members that are not saying just, ‘what’s wrong with you?’ But, ‘what can I do to help you?’ You’re actually helping to prevent child abuse."

While economic status isn’t an indicator of abuse, families experiencing poverty are more likely to get reported to the state’s Child Abuse Hotline. She believes those calls could be avoided by better access to community resources, "We all are responsible for children in our community, not just the Child Welfare agency. And when we can find ways to just love on one another, ask how we can support one another and create those safety networks around children, then maybe the call doesn’t have to come to the line in the first place and we can prevent some bad things from happening to kids." 

Flint-Gerner doesn't discourage people from calling if they have concerns, and she says ODHS now has more resources, "We have human beings: social workers, people who are trained to understand the difference between poverty and neglect and child abuse, and those kinds of things."

ODHS is now working with the Doris Duke Foundation on a pilot project to offer families support to improve their economic stability. A similar program in Klamath County program has resulted in a 60% drop in the number of kids in foster care in that community.

To hear our full conversation with ODHS Child Welfare Director Aprille Flint-Gerner, visit KBND's Podcast Page.