That compounded the trauma of being taken away from her mother and leading to tantrums that frightened her underprepared foster parents and eventually landing her in a psychiatric facility after she threatened to hurt herself.
Kylie and her brother are both part of a group of children in foster care in Oregon who filed a lawsuit on April 16 claiming that the state's foster care system is so understaffed and lacking in resources that it actively harms the children in its care and violates their constitutional rights.
The 10 children, who range in age from 1 to 17, filed suit on behalf of all of the roughly 8,000 foster kids in Oregon, asking the court to order the state to start evaluating children's needs and creating individualized plans in a timely fashion, ensure children actually receive the services their plan dictates, and ensure that children are placed in safe homes.
"The problems in the Oregon foster care system have been exhaustively documented for well over a decade," the complaint said. "It is time that Oregon is held accountable."
According to the complaint filed in Oregon federal court, independent assessments have repeatedly found that Oregon is failing the kids in its care. A large part of the problem, the complaint alleges, is the fact that the state has not put enough effort into recruiting and retaining foster parents and the fact that caseworkers are often overburdened, making it difficult to assess children's needs and find permanent placements that are suitable.
As a result, children are often placed wherever available beds can be found and moved frequently, disrupting their lives and education and compounding the trauma of being removed from their parents, the complaint says. It also alleges children are sometimes even placed in hospitals for no medical reason, as well as homeless shelters, converted juvenile detention facilities, and for-profit, out-of-state facilities linked to abuse allegations.
The suit also argues that children with physical or intellectual disabilities and children who are part of the LGBTQ community are particularly vulnerable and that the state hasn't done enough to address their needs.
The whole situation "courts disaster," the complaint alleges, and violates both state and federal laws designed to protect foster kids, as well as these children's right to due process.
Oregon's Department of Human Services, which oversees the foster care system and is named in the suit, said in a statement that it is already taking steps to improve the state's system.
"DHS shares the same vision of a foster care system where all children are safe, have the customized supports they need to heal, and are cared for in stable, loving families where they thrive," it said. "We take the care of our foster children seriously and work with urgency and diligence to achieve this goal."
A new lawsuit contends Oregon's foster care system is violating the constitutional rights of children by, among other failings, placing kids in inappropriate facilities. That includes part of the juvenile jail in Klamath County, which was converted to accommodate foster children. (Davis Wright Tremaine)
The department stated that it has been working to balance caseloads, recruit more foster families, and reassess the well-being of children placed out of state, among other goals. It also is working to develop new procedures for dealing with the needs of LGBTQ children, it said.
"We will continue to work purposefully with our system partners in addressing the gaps in the foster care system to create a better future for Oregon's children," DHS said.
However, Tom Stenson, deputy legal director with Disability Rights Oregon, which is representing the children with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and the advocacy group A Better Childhood, said that the state has pledged to clean up its act before.
"There have been evaluations of the foster care system going back to at least 2008 that pretty clearly identify common theories and common problems," he said. "There have been a lot of people along the way who have said, 'We're taking these problems seriously, we're going to reform our practices.' And then there's not much tangible outcome."
Having a court set tangible goals and hold the state accountable, he said, was a solution that had worked in other states, such as New Jersey and Tennessee.
"Foster care is complicated," he said. Trying to make changes required a lot of political will and for officials to all get on the same page, something that tended not to happen independently.
He added that he hoped the state would work with Disability Rights Oregon and the other attorneys representing the children to set goals that would then be enforced by the court.
"I think it's clear after multiple efforts ... that there needs to be a judge who will create and hold the state to specific benchmarks," he said.
Have a story idea for Access to Justice? Reach us at accesstojustice@law360.com.
--Editing by Katherine Rautenberg.