Engaging Communities in Child Well-being
The
Vision for Transformation emphasizes that our work is centered on supporting, preserving and strengthening families. The Oregon Child Welfare Division's collaboration with family-serving partners, like you, is critical in providing services to families and ensuring the foundation for thriving communities. Partnerships can sustain successful approaches, identify thoughtful solutions, and create noticeable improvements in the lives of Oregon children and families.
We encourage you to connect with us and become part of the transformation.
Community Voice
The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) is comprised of parents who have had a child welfare case, are in recovery, and are now leaders in their community. The PAC meet monthly with state leadership in Child Welfare to bring the ground truth of how families experience child welfare services in real time, with culturally diverse membership across six different Child Welfare districts across the state.
The PAC is supported by
Morrison Child & Family Services, who provide staff to facilitate and Peer Parent Mentors to participate on the council. PAC members are routinely asked to provide feedback on new concepts, program initiatives and documents from the lens of parents' lived expertise. For example, over the past two years, the PAC has lead training, shared parent stories, and answered questions for all new resource families in Oregon to work toward improving relationships between resource families and biological parents. All PAC members believe that change is possible for all people, parents do recover, and that reunification is achievable for all families.
Previous Community Voice partner highlights available in each edition of the Community Connections newsletter.
Vision for Transformation
Across the state, the Child Welfare Division is putting the
Vision for Transformation into Action.
In 2017, Bryan McMullin and Micah Sicho decided to start Heart to Soles to give back to their community which includes Polk, Yamhill and Marion counties (District 3). They do this by providing shoes for children in care. Partnering with ODHS and Boys & Girls Club, Heart to Soles held an “Unboxing Day” June 5 for children and young people in foster care. It’s called an “Unboxing Day” because in sneaker culture when you get a new pair of shoes, you are unboxing them.
Read the full story about Heart to Soles Unboxing Day.
Skye Hopkins, a permanency caseworker for Child Welfare Division's Hillsboro office, has been honored with the Tom Moan Award, celebrating her work with children and families in Washington County. She specializes in helping families navigate services and finding permanent support for children.
Learn more about Skye's work and the statewide Tom Moan Award.
Connect with us
Follow Oregon's Child Welfare Division @OregonDHSCW
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