Letters in the Editor's Mailbag

Byline: The Register-Guard

Foster care numbers signal trouble

As many of our national politicians devolve into sounding like caffeinated blue jays, clogging our skies with their dysfunction while trying to get elected, let's not be swayed by their divisive shrieks, their spewing proposals based in the fog of their prejudices and not in reality.

Lane County is mired in one sad reality that will take much honest work to correct. There are more children in foster care here, in proportion to the population, than in any other Oregon county.

If fact, Lane County ranks in the top 10 percent nationally of U.S. counties in the number of kids removed from unsafe homes and placed in foster care. Add the recent police reports that there are 40 gangs operating here and it becomes clear that more preventive action is much needed.

How can we avoid the chaos this trend is leading to? A beefed-up police gangs-prevention unit is needed. Education occurs best in class sizes below 22 students. Prevention and treatment models call for more sex education and parenting classes in middle and high school while increasing the number of caseworkers protecting abused kids.

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