Oregon lawmakers are considering a measure that would let children age 12 and older switch their foster care case workers.
The bill would require the Oregon Department of Human Services to assign the child a new case worker within 15 days of the request.
One of the sponsors is Corvallis Democratic Sen. Sara Gelser.
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"Sometimes a conflict arises between a case worker and a youth. They're not getting along, the youth has difficulty getting in touch with or communicating with that case worker," Gelser said. "And what the bill intends to do is to assure that the youth knows how to access help in that situation."
Gelser acknowledged DHS is already short on case workers and the intent is not for youth to constantly switch.
The bill would also allow older teens in foster care to access their case file.
The measure would require DHS to notify foster youth of their right to switch case workers and obtain their case file.