Democrat votes were key in telling Governor Tina Kotek they won't allow her to veto protections for foster youth. By overriding her veto on Senate Bill 875, the sponsors see this bill as correcting miss treatment of youth in foster care.

Emily Cooper, Disability Rights Oregon, testified that they filed a class action lawsuit in 2019 due to actions that took rights from foster youth. She identifies two critical things that SB 875 does:

1. Section one and five, it makes clear that foster youth will have access to their current and future siblings unless a Court enters an order that such contact be limited due to safety concerns. One of the greatest sources of grief and separation anxiety from foster youth, is the lack of contact with their siblings. SB 875 allows those relationships to continue when safe and appropriate.
2. Section three, expressly includes other legal rights youth currently have regarding to be free from inappropriate seclusion and restraint, confidential access to their attorney, freedom of religion, and to have their belongings move appropriately with them.

Governor Kotek said in ner veto memo, it was unclear why “this level of prescriptiveness” was needed in statute. Kotek claimed HB 3835, which died in House committee, as her priority bill dealing with child welfare that would have allowed the state to send children in foster care to facilities in other states. It also changed the definitions around restraints and seclusions. This would reverse the move in 2020 to bring foster youth back to Oregon after abuse was found. Does Kotek really have the 5,000 foster youth in mind or HB 3835?

Senator Sara Gelser Blouin (D-Corvallis), chair of the Senate Human Services Committees, lead the fight against the Department of Human Services (DHS) to bring foster youth back to Oregon and improve in-state foster care. In 2023, the state paid $40 million to settle a lawsuit after four children were sexually and physically abused by their foster parents. “This is an agency under two federal court orders and who is bankrupting our state insurance fund with all these payouts for wrongful death and sexual abuse and civil rights violations,” Gelser Blouin said. DHS has since focused on developing in-state placements to ensure better oversight and care for foster youth. Gelser Blouin continues her commitment to keep Oregon’s youth here, and is probably the strongest advocate against HB 3835.

Annette Smith, a lawyer who represented youth sent out of state the first time around, told OPB, when you send children across state lines, they often lose whatever community and connections they have. “It makes it more difficult for people who love this child and care about this child to ensure their well-being on a daily basis.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Now Kotek is advocating for her failed project “Preschool For All” program. Trying desperately to save public school enrollment, which took a drop after she signed SB 1098. To disguise it, she says the preschool for all program is not being filled and seats remain empty. There is $485 million in unspent funds combined with spotty implementation with only 11% potential licensed sites participating. Is this really the fault of disinterested facilities or an overregulated program? Kotek admits changes are needed. Perhaps the same scrutiny is needed for HB 3835.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2025-07-04 13:25:28

Last Update: 2025-07-05 00:25:06