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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW RCC poised to expand again ... Banking woes easing for some legal pot businesses ... Crater Lake visitors spent $52.2 million last year ... RCC poised to expand again ... Banking woes easing for some legal pot businesses ... Crater Lake visitors spent $52.2 million last year ... OTHER VIEWS Other Views: State's response to foster care scandal falls flat Comment By The Oregonian MailTribune.com By The Oregonian Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM By The Oregonian Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News The decision late Wednesday by Gov. Kate Brown to order an independent review of core functions of the Oregon Department of Human Services was correct. Yet it followed by less than a day a newspaper's extensive review of DHS' oversight of children in a Portland foster care setting — and the galling revelation DHS brass had long known of allegations that some children were being neglected. As a result, Brown's homily about putting kids first fell flat, and missing from her remarks was the only appropriate emotion: outrage. DHS' former director, whose constellation in state government shone with accolades from all quarters of the statehouse, resigned in July after releasing a letter written with the help of a Brown staffer, The Oregonian/OregonLive's Denis C. Theriault reported. More than a year ago, however, it was made known to attorney Errin Kelley-Siel, who oversaw the agency, that the situation was grim and allegedly abusive to children at the foster care provider Give Us This Day, Willamette Week found after reviewing hundreds of agency emails. Among the emails was notice, in February 2014, of a "sustained allegation of abuse," or an instance verified by investigators. Upon Kelley-Siel's resignation, Brown appointed Jerry Waybrant, Kelley-Siel's deputy who had received the same troubling emails about Give Us This Day. In announcing the DHS investigation, Brown correctly sidelined Waybrant and named a departed DHS veteran, Clyde Saiki, to run the agency as a new chief is sought and as a probe unwinds the agency's inner workings. The investigation, if it is to be consequential, must go beyond overbooked caseworkers and lay bare the agency's apparent incapacity to deal with problems in real time. "It's easy to be outraged when something comes to light, and it shouldn't take a newspaper article to do it," Sen. Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis, told the editorial board of The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday. "If I sound like I'm mad, it's because I am." As chairwoman of the Senate Human Services Committee, Gelser knows the testimony of a former Give Us This Day worker who reported some kids went without clean bedding and had withstood mold and vermin. But Gelser finds the revelations about Give Us This Day particularly vexing in that they emerged in the course of a financial probe by the state's Department of Justice, which in February reported the waste or diversion of about $2 million, some for personal use by Give Us This Day's director on trips to Jamaica and Las Vegas as well as home improvements and lingerie and luggage purchases. It's no wonder food and bedding were scarce. It is a wonder, though, that nobody acted. On this point Gelser is flummoxed. "I can't think of any reasonable explanation that Erinn (Kelley-Siel) didn't act," she told the editorial board. "There are so many people in the system that knew. I am deeply troubled by that." Gelser paused a moment, adding: "I am not convinced that there aren't other providers who also fail to meet standards." Real work lies ahead. But real people — children, typically from broken homes and sometimes a handful to manage — are in need now. As investigators unravel the Give Us This Day mess, lawmakers weary of hearing about DHS' chronic problems should ready themselves for the 2016 short session, in which they must ask: What is Oregon willing to do to meet the needs of children in foster care? What is Oregon willing to pay? Most of all, how can DHS be reimagined and rebuilt so that it can react to ugly situations in real time? Anything less is to invite problems. Anything less is to play pretend. Anything less is enabling, expressions of concern by the governor notwithstanding. By The Oregonian MailTribune.com By The Oregonian Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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