Oregon’s child welfare numbers for 2025 are brutal: the state recorded its highest-ever rate of children being seriously harmed while in foster care. The spike, tracked as reported incidents per 100,000 care days, is again putting a spotlight on whether years of promised reforms are actually protecting kids. Advocates and officials say the figures represent real children and are calling for swift, measurable change.
The state’s "maltreatment in care" rate for federal fiscal year 2025 landed at 24.7 incidents per 100,000 care days, well above the federal target of 9.07, according to a May 1 release from the Oregon Department of Human Services. The agency said that number will serve as the baseline for a new Safety Action Plan that calls for monthly safety-plan reviews and mandatory monthly contacts between caseworkers and children.
What the recent coverage found
Independent reporting found the mistreatment rate rose 21.3% since 2022 and involves roughly 4,600 children currently placed in foster care, per OPB. That jump follows a May 2024 class-action settlement, Wyatt B. v. Kotek, which imposed new public reporting and oversight requirements on the state. The settlement agreement, posted by the Oregon Department of Human Services, lays out benchmarks and names a neutral expert to monitor progress.
How Oregon counts changes the headline number
Part of the story is how Oregon counts maltreatment. The state investigates a broader set of allegations and uses a lower evidentiary threshold than many others, which can make its rate look higher in national comparisons. A statutory analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center found Oregon’s definitions and jurisdiction are wider than those used elsewhere, including inquiries into third-party perpetrators, so direct state-to-state comparisons are imperfect.
Where incidents are occurring
Both the state’s progress report and reporting by OPB say many 2025 maltreatment cases occurred during trial home visits, when children in foster care return to parents for visits, and during unsupervised family contacts. The agency’s semiannual progress report describes Trial Home Visits and details steps it is taking to better screen and supervise those contacts. According to a progress report from the Oregon Department of Human Services, a continuous-quality team is reviewing 2025 cases to pinpoint what is driving the increase.
Advocates demand accountability
Disability Rights Oregon, which helped bring the Wyatt B. litigation, has called the settlement and neutral oversight essential and says it will closely monitor the state’s compliance and public reporting. Disability Rights Oregon says the neutral expert and court-ordered benchmarks are central to making sure reforms actually change what happens to children in care.
Legal and budget fallout
Court filings also show the price tag for years of litigation. A federal opinion recorded more than $18 million in legal fees billed by the state’s lawyers during the case. According to a federal court opinion posted by Justia, fees had reached $18,098,921.50 as of July 2024, underscoring the financial and human stakes of overhauling the child welfare system.
What comes next: the neutral expert named under the settlement will issue reviews and annual reports, and advocates say those public findings, along with ODHS’s ongoing monthly safety checks and the agency’s progress reports, will be the clearest measures of whether the system is improving. Disability Rights Oregon says it will keep tracking outcomes as reforms roll out.
