Success By 6™ - United Way of Lane County - United Way Eugene, United Way Springfield - Child Abuse - Parenting Skills - United Way Volunteers - Child Development

The Alarming Local Statistics

The number of child victims in Lane County saw a significant increase in 1999, breaking the 1000 mark.
Oregon as a whole, saw a drop in the number of child victims in 2000. An encouraging trend reversal from previous years. In contrast, Lane County's numbers continued a steady rise through 2000.
Prior to 1999, Lane County's child abuse rates were lower than the state average.
In 1999, Lane County's rate surpassed the state average.
In 2000, the gap widened further with Oregon rates decreasing and Lane County rates increasing.

Profile of Mistreated Children in Oregon

Of the over 10,000 Oregon children abused or neglected in 2000, 49% were under the age of six and 12% were infants.
93.5% of perpetrators were family members.
38.5% of founded cases involved substance abuse.
31.2% of founded cases involved domestic violence.
In 29% of founded cases, the head of the family was unemployed.

Child Abuse & Neglect in Lane County

In 2000, there were 1168 confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect.
From 1995-1998, the rate of child mistreatment in Lane County remained fairly steady, averaging 1 abuse or neglect victim out of every 110 children.
In 1999, the number jumped to 1 in 69 children, surpassing the state average for the same year.
While Oregon as a whole improved in 2000, the Lane county trend worsened, with 1 out of every 63 of our children confirmed as a victim of abuse or neglect.
Services to Children and Families (SCF) receive over 1,000 calls on average in Lane County of suspected child abuse and neglect.
SCF makes face-to-face contacts on over 200 referrals a month.

Foster Care

In 2000, there were approximately 630 children were in foster care in Lane County.
A recent study *, which followed Lane County children in foster care, found that 50% of the children in long-term care (two weeks or more) were under age five.
For over half of the children (51.5%), the primary reason for removal was maltreatment: neglect, threat of harm, physical abuse, or sexual abuse.
Another 7.5% were removed primarily because of domestic violence.
A profile of the parents whose children were placed in foster care revealed that:
- 57.5% were single parents.
- 52.5% were teenagers at the birth of their first child.
- 60% lived in poverty.
- 60% abused drugs.
- 45.8% abused alcohol.
- 41.7% had experienced domestic violence.
- 35% had previously had their children removed.
- 33.3% were themselves abused as children.

* The Cohort V report was produced by the Child Welfare Partnership of Portland State University, and tracked a sample (cohort) of children in long-term foster care (2 weeks or more) from 1997 to mid-1999.

The Environment for Children

Single mothers accounted for 33% of Lane County births in 1999, and 39% of those new mothers were teenagers.
21.7% of all pregnant women and 34.2% of unwed mothers did not receive prenatal care in the first trimester - the critical period for preventing birth defects. 10.1% of unwed mothers received no care until the third trimester.
1 out of every 17 babies born in Lane County in 1999 had a low birthweight.
The child poverty rate is estimated at 14% for the South Valley region (Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Benton counties) compared to 9% for the Portland Metro counties.
15% of South Valley children were without health insurance at some point in 2000.
Of Lane County children on state or federally subsidized health insurance, 13% of 0-2 year olds and 25% of 3-5 year olds had no medical visits of any kind in 1999.

More Info

For more information on child abuse and neglect statistics from 1995 - 2000, visit the Oregon Child Abuse and Neglect Reports page from the Services to Children and Families website.

Child Abuse