PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon needs to improve child safety with stronger background checks for child care workers and an improved sex offender registry, a state audit found.
The Oregon Secretary of State Audits Division said that while the majority of child care providers have no criminal convictions, the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Child Care (OCC) and the Department of Human Services’ Background Check Unit (BCU) have approved some child care workers who have in the past committed crimes such as child abuse or neglect.
The audit, which was requested by the governor’s office and released publicly on Wednesday, also found Oregon provides little guidance on which criminal backgrounds are allowed for child care workers. The OCC and BCU don’t consider some convictions an automatic disqualification, even if the state does when it comes to other jobs involving children.
Read the full audit below.
More than 10,000 children are abused every year in Oregon and almost half are under six years old, the audit said. The abuse is most often committed by family members, but a small subset of abusers are child care providers.
The state of Oregon assigns oversight for child care background checks to multiple state agencies: The DHS and Department of Education. According to the audit, Oregon is one of only a few states to place the responsibility on several agencies.
In addition, the Oregon State Police maintains the criminal and sex offender registry information used during background checks.
The audit concluded that background checks are not as stringent as Oregon parents might expect.
“Oregon has not implemented background requirements beyond federally disqualifying crimes as some other states have. Oregon statutes and rules allow for additional considerations through a fitness determination in an effort to balance child safety with the employment opportunity rights of child care providers,” the audit said. “These allowances have resulted in the approval of some providers who have histories of concerning criminal convictions or involvement in founded cases of abuse and neglect. Additionally, inconsistencies, gaps, and delays in the existing process can limit the value and effectiveness of background checks.”
The state audits division issued a list of recommendations to enhance child safety in Oregon, including legislation to have all child care background checks performed by a single agency.
The audit also recommends the OCC and BCU create consistent lists of background check requirements and crimes disqualifying people from becoming child care providers.
It suggests OSP should propose legislative changes to allow police to "proactively provide information to DHS," such as when registered sex offenders declare their occupation involves caring for a vulnerable population.
All of the involved agencies stated that they agreed with the audit’s recommendations. DHS said it partially agreed to regularly check department employees for criminal convictions and involvement in founded abuse and neglect allegations, stating that its human resources department will continue to check employees under current procedures due to an extremely low rate of non-compliance.
“DHS thanks the Audits Division for the opportunity to rigorously explore its background check systems, and for the advocacy in improving those systems and cross-agency communication,” said Director Fariborz Pakseresht in a statement released Wednesday. “Our background check system is critical to ensuring the safety and well-being of children in care, and there are many opportunities for improvement, as identified in the audit.”
Resources for parents
The following resources are available to parents who want to independently confirm the background information of a child care provider:
- Oregon State Police Open Records Program
- Oregon eCourt System
- U.S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Website
- Oregon Sex Offender Registry
- Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registry Unit
- Office of Child Care Safety Portal
For more information on choosing child care, visit the Early Learning Division of the Oregon Department of Education or Child Care Aware of America.
