'Unable to get the results we need,' Oregon child welfare director resigns

The director of Oregon's troubled child welfare program submitted her resignation this week, less than a year after she accepted the job.

Lena Alhusseini did not offer any explanation for her resignation, which she emailed to Department of Human Services Director Clyde Saiki on Wednesday. But in a statement on Saiki said Alhusseini acknowledged that during Alhusseini's tenure, "we have not been able to get the results we need to achieve" in improving basic child welfare practices and outcomes.

Alhusseini's resignation comes less than two weeks after a story in The Oregonian/OregonLive about the Department of Human Services' decision to remove a 4-year-old foster child from her aunt and uncle's care, severing the girl from the only stable loving home she has known to unite her with a toddler brother she has never met. Alhusseini made the final call to move the little girl.

"Lena accepted a difficult job at a very difficult time, and I want to thank her for her willingness to take on that challenge," Saiki said. "I respect Lena's vision for child welfare – a framework of community engagement and support – and that essential work will continue."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/05/oregon_child_welfare_director.html