MEDFORD, Ore. – A man accused of abusing a foster child under his care is appearing in court for the first time. Samuel Hicks was arraigned Friday following a four month investigation.
Hicks pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse, rape, sodomy, and unlawful sexual penetration. Those acts are suspected to have been committed against a girl who is under the age of 14, while under his care. And they are believed to date back to May, 2013.
But, while the long court process continues, child advocacy experts are looking into ways to better prevent abuse from happening in the future.
In Jackson County, all cases in which a child is sent to foster care are reviewed by volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA’s. Those CASA’s visit the kids regularly to ensure they are being well cared for.
But resource limitations force the agency to assign advocates only to certain cases based on red flags that show up when a child enters the foster care system. Those can include younger children, children who have reappeared in the foster care system multiple times, or those who have suffered previous abuse from their biological parents.
In this case, no red flags were found.
“It’s a juggling act,” said CASA Executive Director Jennifer Mylenek. “We look at every single case that’s in the court, and it’s very difficult to put some of those cases in a file cabinet and know that we don’t have a volunteer to assign to them.”
But that situation is one the agency is always looking to improve. Today they graduated 13 new CASA’s, volunteers who will immediately take on one or more individual cases.
Mylenek says children who have a CASA appointed to them have a less than 1% chance of being abused or neglected while in care.
“They’re one of the only people to be out there on multiple occasions,” said Mylenek. “They get to know the child.”
In the meantime, sheriff’s deputies will continue their investigation into Hicks’ alleged abuse. They say, because foster parents have an opportunity to care for multiple children, there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.
Despite these latest allegations, Jackson County actually outperforms the rest of the state in foster care placement stability. A report from Children First of Oregon found that, on average, 86.8% of Jackson County foster children were placed in stable situations — 9% better than the state average.
Those who suspect a child may be subject to abuse or neglect, whether foster or otherwise, are urged to report it immediately to the DHS Child Welfare Office at 541-776-6120.