Child Abuse and Neglect in Klamath County, Oregon: A birds-eye view of service provision and community partner relationships

This project was designed to get to the bottom of why child abuse and neglect rates continue to be so high in Klamath County. Community partners have a strong relationship with each other and are cooperating to address these issues; nevertheless, the numbers of children experiencing maltreatment remains well above the average for the state of Oregon.\ud The goal of this research is to help Klamath-Lake CARES and its community partners have a greater understanding of child maltreatment trends in Klamath County as well as identify the areas that the county is particularly strong in providing child welfare services and where potential gaps in service may exist. \ud \ud The research project was completed in two parts. The first part consisted of analyzing statistics on child maltreatment from CARES, Klamath County Department of Human Services, and Klamath Falls Police Department. Part of this analysis included review of definitions used by several organizations to make a determination of "founded" child abuse. The second part of the research project consisted of community partner interviews and a focus group with the Klamath County MDT