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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Greetings MDT Members,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Below please find an article written by Senator Ron Wyden regarding the importance of fatality review and Oregon’s recent (last week) visit from the
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities. 
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Senator Ron Wyden: Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect – An Oregon Perspective<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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 to a friend</span></a> <a href="http://www.golocalpdx.com/politics/senator-ron-wyden-protecting-children-from-abuse-and-neglect-an-oregon-pers">
<span style="color:#257D80;text-decoration:none">Permalink</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Thursday, February 26, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<i><span lang="EN" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Democratic Senator of Oregon Ron Wyden<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.5pt;background:white"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><img border="0" width="360" height="360" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image007.jpg@01D05508.A43E9AD0" alt="http://www.golocalpdx.com/cache/images/cached/cache/images/remote/http_s3.amazonaws.com/art.golocalpdx.com/Politics/sad_child_360_360_90.jpg"></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.5pt;background:white"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Protecting our children from all of life’s ills, and especially from abuse and neglect, is perhaps our single
 most important responsibility as adults. There should be no controversy in that statement, no partisanship or disagreement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">And yet, the sad truth remains that too many children in Oregon and across the country are dying from abuse and neglect despite hard work to prevent those tragedies and efforts
 to understand why they happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">That reality will be in the forefront in Portland this week when a federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities meets to hear ideas from local, state
 and federal officials for better protecting our kids.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">The Commission was created after Congress passed the Protect Our Kids Act of 2012 to bring new perspective, insight and tools for preventing abuse and neglect. That work will
 form the basis for a report to be submitted to the President and Congress detailing specific recommendations for strategies to better protecting children from abuse and neglect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">To achieve those goals we must identify which children are most at risk. In 2013, 10 children died in Oregon from abuse or neglect. Seven of these children were 5 years old
 or younger; five were younger than 1 year old. No child was in child protective services (CPS) custody at the time of death, and there were no children who had a referral to CPS within the last year. Several common risk factors were identified in these fatalities,
 including drug use by adults.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">So how do we ensure the safety and well-being of our most vulnerable children and what is the appropriate role of the child welfare “system”? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">The answer lies in identifying at-risk children earlier, engaging families, and using a multidisciplinary approach. Increasingly, experts understand there is a much larger
 community of agencies, beyond CPS, that know about a child’s risk for abuse and neglect. Law enforcement, domestic violence services, mental health professionals, primary care and emergency room physicians, the judiciary, teachers and school counselors—each
 can potentially signal early warnings of children at risk.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Effectively preventing fatalities requires a broader, more coordinated response across the social service system. We need to build bridges across systems and create a comprehensive
 child welfare system that is more than just CPS. The goal is to have a fully collaborative approach that provides the earliest possible warning and most effective response.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">That’s what we’re doing in Oregon - working hard to bring a multidisciplinary approach to how we collect data on fatalities and improving our process in understanding it so
 decisions are made faster and reaction is more focused and effective. Oregon’s State Child Fatality Review Team includes a wide variety of partners, including CPS, public health, law enforcement, physicians, district attorneys, medical examiners, paramedics,
 and community health nurses, to name a few.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">In addition to co-chairing the State Child Fatality Review Team twice per year, the Oregon Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority also work together
 to implement prevention strategies throughout the year. In 2014, this heightened partnership fostered the implementation of an existing federal child fatality electronic data system that improves child fatalities data collection with the goal of improving
 prevention and intervention. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">As part of Medicaid, the state/federal health care program for low-income people, Oregon has established a system of Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs), which integrate
 physical, mental and behavioral health. Oregon’s CCOs are working to align services across systems in order to address the long-term health of children and families. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Another important advance is the Oregon Safety Model (OSM) used by CPS. This model requires a more than an investigation of an incident, it requires a comprehensive assessment
 in every case to ensure child safety at all stages of a family’s involvement with CPS. The program is driven by a belief that we all embrace - safety is a fundamental right of every child in Oregon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">That belief was the catalyst in 2008 for Karly’s Law, named after a 3-year-old girl who died from abuse despite multiple investigations of abuse allegations conducted by state
 child welfare staff and law enforcement, and despite significant physical evidence. The law mandates that children with suspicious injuries receive medical attention from a designated child abuse medical professional within 48 hours. Since 2008, Karly’s Law
 has helped thousands of Oregon children receive medical evaluations and care related to suspected abuse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Parents are part of the effort too. Programs that offer advice on best practices in parenting are promoted statewide with community partners such as Circle of Security, Healthy
 Start-Healthy Families, Nurse-Family Partnership of Oregon and others. All of them provide curriculum and home visitation programs, relief nurseries and other services that help parents develop the skills and supports they need to adequately care for their
 children. These programs are showing particular promise and just last week, Oregon received $10.8 million in federal grant funding to expand evidence-based home visiting services to women during pregnancy and to parents with young children, a program made
 possible by the Affordable Care Act.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">All of these steps, including improved data tracking, identification of at-risk children, development of prevention strategies, implementation of trauma-informed care, replication
 of best practices, coordination across multiple agencies and targeted investments, can help us fulfill our most important responsibility—protecting vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D">Robin Reimer</span></b><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D">CAMI Fund Coordinator  Crime Victims’ Services Division
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D">Oregon Department of Justice<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D">1162 Court Street NE, Salem, OR 97301<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:#1F497D">Ph:
<a href="tel:503-378-5348" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">503-378-6795</span></a>   Cel:
<a href="tel:503-378-5348" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">503-507-4990</span></a>Fx:
<a href="tel:503-378-5738" target="_blank"><span style="color:#1F497D">503-378-5738</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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