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Oregon foster care class action lawsuit headed to trial after settlement offer rejected

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Oregon foster care class action lawsuit headed to trial after settlement offer rejected


Oregon’s child welfare agency has been in and out of court since 2019, defending against a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of every child in foster care in the state. The suit was filed by Disability Rights Oregon and the national advocacy group A Better Childhood.

The Oregon Department of Human Services building is pictured in Salem, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2019. Beleaguered and increasingly desperate child welfare workers trusted the private, for-profit Sequel Youth and Family Services with the state’s most vulnerable children, despite allegations of abuse.

Bradley W. Parks / OPB

Marcia Robinson Lowry is the lead attorney in the class action lawsuit and the director of A Better Childhood. On Monday, she announced that her organization was rejecting a settlement offer from Oregon’s Department of Human Services. The case is now expected to go to trial on May 13.

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Child advocacy groups have brought similar class actions in other states including in Tennessee, where a settlement led to reforms that improved outcomes for children and youth in foster care. Oregon’s Department of Human Services told us they cannot provide comment on this ongoing litigation. Robinson Lowry recently spoke with “Think Out Loud” to talk about the lawsuit and what’s at stake.

The following excerpts have been edited for clarity and brevity:

Why the class action lawsuit was filed against the state

“The more we looked at data, the more we heard heartbreaking children’s stories, the more convinced we were that we needed to organize a lawsuit in this state. In Oregon, the maltreatment rate for children in the foster care system is almost twice the national average. The average length of time that children spend in the foster care system in Oregon is 21 months as compared to the average in the country nationally, which is about 17 [months]. The placement stability rate — the number of times a kid moves from one place to another — is 5.3, compared to the national average, which is only 4.1.

And also very significantly, children are not supposed to stay in the system too long. But when children are returned home by the state of Oregon, they are much more likely to reenter the foster care system because the state has not done a good job of deciding whether it’s now safe for children to return home. And so the reentry rate into foster care in Oregon is 14.4%, as compared to a national average of 8.3%.

So when you look both at the national data and see how other systems are doing, and you see how poorly Oregon compares to that, it was clear that a class action lawsuit was necessary.”

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Why the state’s settlement offer was rejected

“The settlement offer that we received was totally unsatisfactory. It will not protect the children that we represent and will not give the state the opportunity to be responsible for making things better.

We’ve said this from the beginning, we think that the state gets better by doing better for the kids it serves. And the way you measure whether the state is doing better for the kids that it serves is by having better outcomes: by getting children back home or into another permanent living situation as soon as possible, by not having children harmed or abused while they’re in state custody, and by not having kids move from one place to another. That’s just devastating for a kid.”

The kinds of reforms Lowry is seeking for foster care children and youth

“The way you do it is not by just changing your policies, but it’s by changing your practice. It’s by having enough case workers so that caseworkers can spend time on individual children’s individual cases. It’s by having enough places for children to go when they need to be housed outside their homes. It’s by having the special services. The kids need therapeutic foster homes of specially supported services for kids. And looking for placements for children of all of those kinds of things and not making decisions just based on a policy but making decisions about whether to return a kid home or not based on the individual circumstances of the individual child and the family. We all certainly believe that children are best raised by families, not by institutions.”

Improving the system is not just about money, Lowry says

“Look at Oklahoma, which is also doing an incredibly strong job in providing additional placements for children. And Oklahoma provides additional services for kids in both foster homes and in kinship homes. But the services that the kids need are what the state is providing. And Oklahoma is not a wealthy state at all. It’s not a matter of money. It’s a matter of making a commitment to doing better and really looking and seeing what you’re doing.

Oregon, for example, does not get children assessed in a timely manner. You can’t provide services for a child if you don’t understand what the child needs. That’s not something we say. It’s in fact a matter of federal law and the state is supposed to do it, but they’re not.”

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Marcia Robinson Lowry spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Press the play arrow above to listen to the conversation.



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Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class

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Where Oregon Ducks rank in industry recruiting rankings for 2027 class


With the winter evaluation period of high school football recruiting now behind us, we’ve seen some of the top recruiting sites update their rankings over the past few weeks and start to reset their boards for the 2027 class. In February, On3 shifted players around after getting fresh looks at the class, and 247Sports did the same earlier this week.

So with Oregon’s handful of commits getting new ratings, where does the Ducks’ class rank nationally in this cycle?

If you look at sites individually, it looks different, with 247Sports having Oregon sitting at No. 13 in the nation. At Rivals, though, they take the industry ranking, which factors in their own rankings, plus an average from 247Sports and ESPN.

In the industry rankings, Oregon sits at No. 9 in the nation, with five commitments.

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Going into the summer months, the Ducks are in a great spot, leading or among the top schools for a handful of the top prospects in the nation, like 5-star QB Will Mencl or 5-star WR Dakota Guerrant. We will see what movement Oregon can make in the coming months after official visits take place early in the summer.

Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions. 



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New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise

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New Data Shows Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise


Data released by the Oregon Health Authority this week suggests Oregonians are getting hurt on electric scooters more every year.

In recent years, according to OHA, an “e-scooter-specific code” was developed for health care tracking purposes.

From 2021 to 2024, annual injury reports under this code from Oregon hospitals and emergency departments jumped from 211 to 418.

And in just the first nine months of 2025, there had been 509 such reports.

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“These injuries are not minor scrapes,” said Dagan Wright, an OHA epidemiologist, in a written statement. “They often involve head injuries, broken bones, and other serious trauma that requires emergency or inpatient care.”

The city of Portland signed contracts with three e-scooter rental companies in 2018, as the transportation craze spread across the country. But e-scooter injury diagnosis codes are relatively new in health care reporting, Wright said in the OHA statement.

“While the overall numbers remain smaller than for other transportation-related injuries, the rapid increase over a short period of time is a clear safety signal,” OHA added.

The agency highlighted the story of Portland e-scooter commuter Daniel Pflieger, who it says was riding a scooter home when he reportedly slid on ice. He bruised several ribs.

Sometimes outcomes are worse. OHA identified 17 deaths linked to electric or motorized scooters since 2018, and seven of those occurred in 2025.

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OHA says that e-bikes raise many similar safety concerns as e-scooters. The first full year for which e-bike injuries were coded for reporting was 2023. State data shows 392 reported e-bike injuries that year, 683 in 2024, and 760 in the first nine months of 2025.

“Injuries involving e-bikes and e-scooters share common risk factors—speed, lack of helmet use, roadway design, and interactions with motor vehicles,” Wright said.

Oregon E-Scooter Injuries on the Rise (Source: Oregon Health Authority)

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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Oregon women’s basketball playing for March Madness seeding vs. Purdue

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Oregon women’s basketball playing for March Madness seeding vs. Purdue


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At times, the Oregon women’s basketball team has certainly made things much harder on themselves than it needs to be. The team has also produced some miraculous comeback victories, putting itself in position to make women’s March Madness for the second straight season.

March 1, in their final regular season game, the Ducks (20-11, 8-10 Big Ten) finished on the wrong end of yet another tight game to Washington, 70-69. It’s the second time this season Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, but ended up losing to the Huskies (20-9, 10-8).

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Those aren’t the only times Oregon has come back from a double-digit deficit, like it did in wins vs. Nebraska and USC. The No. 11-seed Ducks are hoping they won’t need heroics in a Big Ten tournament first-round game against No. 14 Purdue this Wednesday.

Watch Oregon basketball on Peacock

“I think our biggest weakness this year has been our inconsistency,” coach Kelly Graves said, “something we’ve battled all year. The great thing is our kids know, regardless of the score, we’ve got a chance. We’ll make it a game at some point. As a coach, it drives you nuts. Hopefully we can figure it out and play more consistent basketball.”

Oregon’s volatility has seen it earn three double-digit comeback wins this year, but also blow several games in the final moments.

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Against Wisconsin, the Ducks held a 6-point lead with less than a minute remaining, but lost in overtime. Against Illinois, Oregon held a 21-point lead at halftime, blew it in the third quarter, trailed by eight with minutes to play and somehow eked out a win.

That makes UO somewhat of a wild card heading into the conference tournament this week at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“It’s definitely (been) a rollercoaster,” guard Katie Fiso said. “A lot of highs and a lot of lows. But one thing that I try to see through all games is our grittiness and our toughness. One thing that stays consistent throughout the season is our toughness and our grittiness. The game isn’t over until the last bell rings.”

The Ducks will be taking on a Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13) team that has struggled against most of the top competition in the league, but played Oregon tight in a Feb. 25 Ducks win.

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Graves said when the Ducks went throughout the postgame handshake line after, the Boilermakers felt like their season would end after the regular season. Thanks to some upsets, Purdue is in the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 14 seed.

“We’re playing a team that probably feels like it’s playing with house money,” Graves said. “We’ve got to pick ourselves back up and get it done.”

What channel is Oregon vs. Purdue on today in Big Ten tournament?

Oregon will tip off vs. Purdue on Peacock, with no TV option to watch the game.

Oregon vs. Purdue start time in Big Ten tournament

  • Date: Wednesday, March 4
  • Time: Around 5:30 p.m. PT

Oregon and Purdue will play around 5:30 p.m. PT at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The first game of the day begins at 12:30 p.m. PT, with the next game 25 minutes after the first game ends, and so on. The Ducks play in the third game of the day, so no official tip time is listed.

Oregon women’s basketball schedule 2025-26

Below are the past five games of Oregon’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.

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Feb. 15 Washington 51, Oregon 43
Feb. 19 Oregon 80, Nebraska 76
Feb. 22 Indiana 72, Oregon 65
Feb. 25 Oregon 71, Purdue 65
March 1 Washington 70, Oregon 69
March 4 Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament)

Purdue women’s basketball schedule 2025-26

Below are the past five games of Purdue’s 2025-26 basketball season. For the full schedule, click here.

Feb. 14 Purdue 72, Rutgers 57
Feb. 19 Iowa 83, Purdue 74
Feb. 22 Maryland 99, Purdue 66
Feb. 25 Oregon 71, Purdue 65
March 1 Purdue 67, Northwestern 62
March 4 Oregon vs. Purdue (Big Ten tournament)

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football and women’s basketball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com.



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