The Citizen Review Board is Oregon’s statewide foster care review program that reviews the case plans of children and families involved in the child welfare system to determine if their placements and services are appropriate.

Each child in foster care is required by law to have their case reviewed by a judge or a panel of local citizens (Citizen Review Board) every six months to ensure the foster child is receiving adequate care.

A local Citizen Review Board in Grant and Harney counties is comprised of volunteers of the counties who are willing to give one day every other month (two to eight hours depending on the number of cases) to review cases. In reviewing plans and services for children and youth, local boards seek to ensure that each abused or neglected child has a safe and nurturing permanent home as quickly as possible and that everyone in the case gets the services they need.

The CRB invite parents, foster parents, attorneys, caseworkers, court-appointed special advocates (CASAs), other interested parties and the child, if appropriate, to attend the CRB review and discuss plans for the family and the child. It is important for every party to have a voice. The board then makes findings and recommendations to the circuit court and the Department of Human Services Child Welfare.

The mission of the Citizen Review Board is to provide a citizen voice on the safety, stability and supervision of children in foster care through impartial case review and advocacy. Our vision is for citizens to shape public policy and actively promote conditions to ensure that every child lives in a safe, secure, healthy and permanent home, preserving families whenever possible.

Volunteers are screened and trained to serve. They are appointed by the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and sworn in by the judge of the Grant and Harney Circuit Court.

If you are interested in looking into this volunteer opportunity further, please feel free to contact me or go to http://www.courts.oregon.gov/crb. You can submit an application at: CRB APPLICATION.

Currently, due to the COVID-19 restrictions, we are doing all reviews remotely on Webex. We hope to return to in-person reviews in October.