DHS seeks to hire more than 300 workers to improve child welfare safety, capacity
In a massive hiring push, the Oregon Department of Human Services posted more than 300 child welfare, protective services and hotline screening jobs this week.
The hiring initiative was driven by Gov. Kate Brown's executive order establishing an oversight board to address the "crisis in Oregon's child welfare system." The Oregon Legislature approved funding for these new positions during the 2019 legislative session
“In order to ensure our children are safe, we need more caring and dedicated people on the ground working with families,” Gov. Brown said in a statement. “Hiring more child welfare workers is one important step to right-sizing the system so that it better serves our most vulnerable children and families."
Brown established the oversight board this year, citing the significantly understaffed child welfare program, the more than 80 children sent to out-of-state foster care facilities and the severe shortage in foster homes.
Read more: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2019/07/25/department-human-services-hiring-improve-child-welfare-safety/1831847001/
(Salem Statesman Journal)