Document text
SUNNY Temp: 53 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, November 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend September 17, 2002 Yung Hang of Swanson Electric installs wiring for outdoor lighting Monday at a new addition to the Children's Advocacy Center in Medford. The center logs every serious case of child abuse in the county and maintains 13 years of cross-referenced data. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Project speeds abuse response Reports in two counties will trigger a swift assessment of the safety risk to the child By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune Serious reports of child abuse now will be assessed within 24 hours under a pilot project in Jackson and Josephine counties aimed at reforming Oregon’s child welfare system. "It looks at the safety risk to the child," said Karla Carlson, a local protective services supervisor. "Is the child being beat up right now?" Instead of five days, local child-abuse screeners will have one day to assess reports of immediate danger. Less urgent reports will be reviewed and referred more quickly to case workers as well, Carlson said. "We’re getting them written up and sent out," said Carlson, who volunteered the region for the project expected to expand statewide in April. "Jackson County has always been sort of on the cutting edge (of child abuse response) in Oregon," she said. The program, piloted in Jackson, Josephine and Umatilla counties, is part of expected reforms in Oregon’s child welfare agency. No new funding is provided for the pilot project, although two positions have been designated to support it, Carlson said. Whether those positions remain in the wake of potential state budget cuts is uncertain, she added. Officials last week conceded that the state child welfare agency mishandled reports about Ashley Pond, an Oregon City 12-year-old whose body was discovered last month. "Our part of this system failed," Bobby Mink, head of the state Department of Human Services, said as he released results of an internal agency review ordered by Gov. John Kitzhaber. Ashley was one of two girls whose remains were found on property owned by Ward Weaver across the street from the apartment complex where both girls lived. Three people had called the state agency last summer to report that Ashley had accused Weaver of sexually abusing her. Despite the reports, police didn’t find out about Ashley’s accusation until after her Jan. 9 disappearance. Ashley’s body was found buried under a concrete slab at Weaver’s rental house. The body of Miranda Gaddis, 13, was found in a shed on Weaver’s property. Weaver, 39, has not been charged in the girls’ deaths, but prosecutors have said they will seek an indictment against him. He was arrested Aug. 13 for the alleged rape of his son’s 19- year-old girlfriend and remains in jail. Mink said the internal report showed that the agency violated "immediate" reporting requirements and failed to follow up on referrals about Ashley’s alleged abuse. After the first report was received by the state, 11 working days passed before it was sent to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, which in turn said it never received the document. Quicker response to abuse reports is just one of several reforms expected at DHS. By the end of this month, all of the department’s agencies will have written instructions about how to refer child-abuse reports to police and will have a system to verify that those reports have been received. "This case has highlighted areas that we need to correct. Oregonians need to feel assured that they have a strong child-protective system," Mink said. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Children’s Advocacy Center logs every case in Jackson County By JONEL ALECCIA Mail Tribune If Ashley Pond had reported abuse in Jackson County, it’s likely a wide safety net would have caught her, officials here said. While no system is fail-safe, local law enforcement and child-abuse workers say they’ve developed formal and informal collaborations that work. "We just don’t have cases that fall through the cracks," says Jane Hamilton, director of the Children’s Advocacy Center in Medford. At the core of the system are weekly meetings that bring together police and child-welfare workers to talk about the newest cases of abuse. Such Multi-Disciplinary Teams are required in every county by state law, but some function better than others. "We meet every Friday afternoon," said Hamilton. "That doesn’t happen everywhere." In addition, the local law enforcement agencies routinely swap information and aid, even across jurisdictions. "We have a handle on what’s going on here," said Medford Police Lt. Tim George. "I would be surprised if an egregious type situation slipped past us." Part of the success rests with the existence of the Children’s Advocacy Center, which logs every serious case of abuse in the county, said Karla Carlson, a state protective services worker. The community-based center is the hub from which services — legal, medical, therapeutic — emanate. "One of the things that’s really different for our center is that in other places, kids can’t get in for an evaluation for two or three weeks," she says. "Here, it’s immediate." The advocacy center also maintains 13 years of cross-referenced data on victims and offenders, Hamilton says. In 2001, the multi-agency team reviewed 378 cases for prosecution. Those were among 569 reported cases of physical or sexual abuse, including 279 incidents of family abuse committed by people living with children. Another 237 incidents were committed by people known to the children, such as neighbors or friends. Eight involved strangers, and 45 were unable to be determined. Perhaps it’s Jackson County’s size — not too big, but not too small — that allows collaboration, officials say. Or perhaps it’s that the region’s livability encourages workers to remain for years, ensuring continuity. "Jackson County is frequently held up as a model," Hamilton says. "I’d hate to say everybody in the state ought to be doing it like we are, but it works for us." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S