Caseworkers believe the average family involved with SCF has five risk factors. These factors include chronic neglect, drug abuse, criminal involvement, teen at first birth, and single parenthood. These are families whose children have been in state custody for more than a year, yet whose accused behavior is a five or lower on Oregon's seven-part scale. On this scale, Level 1 is severe abuse or neglect, parent in jail, or death of a sibling. Level 7 is primarily older youth, children beyond parental control, and minor maltreatment of a young child.
Children often suffer extreme trauma upon forcible, long-term removal from home.
When long-term removal results from relatively minor maltreatment, SCF may well be doing far more harm than good. C4 notes that roughly 75,000 charges of abuse are logged to SCF each year. SCF believes about one-third are merited, though all are supposed to be investigated. Roughly one child in every 135 is in foster care in any year, giving a total childhood risk level as high as one in twenty. If nothing is done, the number of children in foster care will double by 2005.