This series was published over four weeks in early 2018 in the Malheur Enterprise, the result of several months of interviews and a review of state, county and court records. PART 1: Malheur County system in crisis EXTRA: Volunteers focus on speaking for kids PART 2: Foster parents face state[Read More…]

Individuals, businesses and civic organizations all can help improve life for children in foster care in Malheur County. These are the most vulnerable children in the community. There are ways, big and small, with time, money or goods, that you can help. Here is a compilation of what local government[Read More…]

Workers with the Ontario office of the state Department of Human Services monitor a mother’s weekly visit with her children. The supervised visits are one step towards returning children from foster care to their parents. (The Enterprise/Les Zaitz) ONTARIO – Behind closed doors, the four citizens asked probing questions about[Read More…]

I spent four years in foster care and through those years, I knew that there was a need for more foster homes in Oregon. I remember call after call to my foster mother asking her to take in a new child. Thanks to the open heart of one woman, my life[Read More…]

Anna Weston of Ontario (The Enterprise/Les Zaitz) ONTARIO – Anna Weston, 10, knows what it’s like to move to a strange home with little you can call your own. Now, the Pioneer Elementary School fourth-grader and CASA of Eastern Oregon are teaming up to make sure foster children always have[Read More…]

Breanne endured neglect for years before finally moving to a home where she learned what normal parents are like. (The Enterprise/Les Zaitz) The state worker’s directive on a school night shocked the young girl: “Go pack your things.” Breanne went to her room, where she clung to her bunk bed.[Read More…]

Malheur County Circuit Judge Lung Hung, the presiding judge, wants to clear the hurdles to placing children with relatives in Idaho when they are removed from parents in Malheur County. He conducts regular hearings on the status of foster children. (Malheur Enterprise/Les Zaitz) VALE – The two boys, 3 and[Read More…]

Daniel, 11, is in a foster home in Vale, attending school, doing his homework and sharing with his foster parents news of the day and whether there were any “hard times.” (The Enterprise/Les Zaitz) ONTARIO – The abused 5-year-old was suddenly homeless. His guardian, unwilling to host him any longer,[Read More…]

Wendy Hill, district director in Ontario for the state Department of Human Services, has faced a growing number of foster children in state care but a shortage of caseworkers and foster parents. (The Enterprise/Les Zaitz) ONTARIO – The two sisters, so neglected that they had been removed from their home,[Read More…]