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| Date: From: Subject: | 5/26/2005 4:03:55 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Oregon--Please Call on Social Workers Training Bill |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== May 26, 2005 Oregon--Please Call on Social Workers Training Bill Dear HSLDA members and friends: Senate Bill 895 has passed the Senate by a vote of 22-1! However, the bill is now scheduled for a hearing in the House. Tomorrow, May 27, 2005, the Health and Human Services Committee will have a hearing on the bill and we need your e-mails! Senate Bill 895 has been introduced to require the Department of Human Services to train social workers to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of families they are investigating. The bill also requires social workers to inform the family they are investigating of the allegations made against them at the initial time of contact. These changes in the law are important to protect the rights of all families who might be subject to an investigation by DHS and to bring Oregon into compliance with federal law (Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003- CAPTA). For more information about CAPTA please see http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?ID=2245 . In our experience with social services these are the two most frequent problems that occur. Often social workers will refuse to tell the family what the allegations are against them but will insist that they be allowed to come into the family's home and talk with their children. Social services workers are often unfamiliar with important constitutional and statutory rights that apply to families. OCEANetwork has been working hard to get these needed changes introduced. Please e-mail the House Health and Human Services Committee now and urge them to vote in favor of S.B. 895. As this is an issue that affects all families in Oregon you can simply identify yourself as a concerned parent. You do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. REQUESTED ACTION: Please e-mail the House Health and Human Services Committee members listed below and urge them to vote in favor of S.B. 895. You can give them the following message in your own words: "Please vote in favor of Senate Bill 895. This bill is necessary to bring Oregon into compliance with the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. It ensures that social services workers are properly trained and that families are told of the allegations against them from the beginning of an investigation." House Health and Human Services Committee Members: Representative Billy Dalto, Chair E-mail: rep.billydalto@state.or.us Representative Tom R Butler, Vice-Chair E-mail: rep.tombutler@state.or.us Representative Carolyn Tomei, Vice-Chair E-mail: rep.carolyntomei@state.or.us Representative Gordon Anderson E-mail: rep.gordonanderson@state.or.us Representative Deborah Boone E-mail: rep.deborahboone@state.or.us Representative Kevin Cameron E-mail: rep.kevincameron@state.or.us Representative Mitch Greenlick E-mail: rep.mitchgreenlick@state.or.us BACKGROUND In recent years there has been an unprecedented rise in the number of homeschool families that have been investigated by social workers, many for completely false allegations anonymously phoned in from a disgruntled relative or neighbor. Unfortunately there are inadequate safeguards in place to protect innocent families from this traumatic, and many times unnecessary, intrusion into their home. In an effort to remedy this problem HSLDA lobbied Congress in 2001 to include a variety of safeguards in CAPTA, the Federal legislation that provides much of the funding for social services departments. While Congress did not include all of our suggested reforms, two of the most important -- social worker training in family rights and mandatory disclosure of allegations -- were included in the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003. As a result of the abuses of the child welfare system, we at HSLDA are working to reform the child welfare laws in the states. We support legislation which would protect families by forcing social workers to abide by the same laws regular law enforcement officials must obey. Senate Bill 895 would make important steps in this direction for families in Oregon. Sincerely, Thomas J. Schmidt HSLDA Staff Attorney ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Remember the last time you wrote a term paper? 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
