Oregon DHS describes in‑home child‑welfare spending, seeks funds to expand local stabilization services

April Flint Gerner, child welfare director with the Oregon Department of Human Services, told the Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee that the agency’s budget presentation for Senate Bill 5526 will focus on in‑home and out‑of‑home child welfare services.

Gerner said the safety budget that supports in‑home services is funded about 46% by federal dollars and 53% by state general funds, and listed programs covered by those dollars including family safety services, prevention and preservation, addiction and recovery services and Family First funds. "We are going to stay there today because we need to talk about what happens when we are serving families in home," Gerner said.

The department highlighted outcomes from family preservation demonstration sites and an existing pilot called Focus. During federal fiscal 2023, DHS said 5,198 children received case management and safety services while remaining in their homes. From 2024 family preservation demonstration sites, DHS reported a 10% increase in families served in‑home and that 80–92% of children served in those pilot sites were able to stay at home (Gerner noted the lower end reflects Klamath and Douglas counties and the higher end Multnomah County; Klamath County specifically saw 98%).

DHS described two services it wants to expand under a policy option package: a Response and Support Network (RSN) that provides rapid, community‑driven stabilization and child‑specific caregiver supports that provide longer‑term paraprofessional help to caregivers of children with complex needs. Treatment services manager Sarah Fox said the RSN pilot has produced more than 90% success rates in stabilizing children in family settings and that child‑specific caregiver supports show a 91% rate of meeting goals set by children and families.

Gerner and staff told the committee the agency is seeking limited central‑office capacity to scale the pilot to additional communities. DHS requested three full‑time equivalent positions to support engagement and contract work for expansion and estimated a statewide build‑out over five to ten years with a full statewide cost estimate of about $4,640,000 when fully implemented, while noting the department will pursue federal braiding and coordination with the Oregon Health Authority’s mobile response rollout.

The presentation emphasized workforce and access constraints: Gerner said the department needs more family coaches to support family preservation statewide and cited the need for models to define workload and to expand intensive caregiver supports and community economic supports that help families remain together. She framed the policy option package as a targeted investment in services that prevent escalation into higher, more costly levels of care.

No formal actions or votes were taken; the session was an informational hearing on SB 5526. DHS staff answered members’ questions on performance, service design and financing and said the Focus pilots have helped reduce temporary lodging placements.

The committee heard Commissioners and members of the subcommittee ask about timelines, funding sources (including Medicaid and Family First authorities), and whether the RSN design could leverage existing Medicaid pathways. Gerner said the agency is coordinating with the Oregon Health Authority and planning further work to braid federal funding where eligible.

DHS concluded by asking the subcommittee to consider the request for staff and contracting authority to expand the Focus pilots as part of the SB 5526 budget package.

Looking ahead, DHS said it will continue to report outcomes from family preservation demonstrations and Focus pilots as the agency pursues phased expansion in partnership with local communities and the Oregon Health Authority.