SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday signed a bill into law that lowers the degree requirement for child welfare caseworkers.

Under House Bill 2033, Oregon can now hire as caseworkers people who hold associate’s degrees and have completed “additional training or additional certification in human services or a field related to human services.”

State law previously required workers who investigate reports of child abuse and make decisions about whether to remove children from their families to have earned at least a bachelor’s degree.

Brown and leaders at the Department of Human Service originally wanted to eliminate the degree requirement completely. Oregon’s child welfare program has struggled to hire and retain enough caseworkers, and director Marilyn Jones told lawmakers earlier this year that ending the degree requirement could encourage a more diverse pool of job candidates.

But the decisions of some caseworkers have also been called into question in high profile cases in which children were harmed or killed and lawmakers were skeptical of completely removing the degree requirement. In the end, they reached a compromise with the executive branch by retaining a degree requirement but lowering it to an associate’s degree.

— Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

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