The material presented is general legal information intended to alert you to possible legal problems and solutions. This topic discusses parents rights and their obligations to their children and under what conditions the State may interfere in the family relationship. The process of reporting problems to the Juvenile Court or State offices for Services to Children and Families is covered and what happens to a child who is placed outside the parental home. The scope of parents' rights are not precisely defined under Oregon law. Children are under the charge of their parents and are expected to live with them and obey them.
Parents also have the obligation to support their children.
Normally, these rights may not be interfered with by the state as long as the parent fulfills his or her other obligations to provide for the child's care and support. When parents do not fulfill their obligations to act in the best interests of their children, then the state may interfere. The state can intervene in the family relationship under the adult criminal law to prevent child abuse and neglect and to prosecute parents who fail to provide adequately for their children or who are abusing their children. The state also may interfere under the authority of the juvenile court. The state may, therefore, temporarily or permanently take away the parents' rights to the care, control and custody of the child in order to protect the child from neglect and abuse.