State pays $1.25 million for death of 15-year-old foster child

The state of Oregon has agreed to pay $1.25 million to the family of a 15-year-old Albany girl who died under the watch of child welfare workers.

Gloria Joya died while in foster care in 2016 from untreated gastrointestinal problems, a health condition that a 2017 lawsuit claimed was made worse because of the girl’s tumultuous life.

The lawsuit said child welfare workers with the Oregon Department of Human Services had been contacted 28 times with concerns about Joya, starting when she was 1 year old and continuing until she was 14. Callers repeatedly voiced fears that she faced abuse or neglect while living with one or both of her parents, yet the department didn’t take custody of her until she was 14, the suit said.

According to the lawsuit and the state’s own investigation into Joya’s death, the girl she missed an unusual amount school, her mother repeatedly used methamphetamine while living with her in a shelter and her parents fought and threw items in front of her and her siblings. Joya also said she’d been choked.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2018/11/state-pays-125-million-for-death-of-15-year-old-foster-child.html