Tagged With "Oregon"

By Kyle Spurr, The Bulletin, September 21, 2019 A recent child abuse conviction and a current trial have highlighted how tragic abuse can become. One case allegedly resulted in a 5-year-old girl starving to death. The other abuse case left a 2-year-old boy permanently injured. While those extreme examples are relatively rare in the region, child welfare officials say the problem is prevalent in many ways. Child abuse cases often involve physical and sexual abuse, neglect and exposure to...

TRACEs’ work group on youth and children in foster care spent a good portion of the last year’s monthly meetings examining holes in the system: How would foster families be affected by changes in funding from the Oregon Department of Human Services? What would it mean for kids if Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) positions were cut? Most important, what did foster children and youth, their families of origin and their foster families need in order to thrive? “We put together a...

Election day is full of shock, awe, and surprise. One of the many surprises this year comes out of the state of Oregon where Oregonians voted to decriminalize the possession of street drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and more. Measure 110 in Oregon passed by a wide margin as the votes are continuing to come in. While selling and manufacturing these substances remains illegal, the possession of small amounts of these drugs will now only result in a fine, like a traffic...

Eugene, OR: CAHOOTS 32 years ago the City of Eugene, Oregon developed an innovative community-based public safety system to provide mental health first response for crises involving mental illness, homelessness, and addiction. White Bird Clinic started CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) as a community policing initiative in 1989 (White Bird Clinic).* The CAHOOTS model has been in the spotlight recently as the USA struggles to reimagine public safety. From the CAHOOTS...