Five of Jennifer and Sarah Hart's six children were so small in 2013 that their weights and heights were not listed on growth charts for children their age, child welfare records released Monday show.

Yet Oregon's child protective agency determined there was no conclusive evidence of abuse or neglect in their West Linn home and closed its investigation into the family after five months.

The doctor who measured the children reported no causes for concern despite the children's sizes because she didn't have records of their previous sizes. Her opinion weighed heavily in the Department of Human Services' decision. At least two women who knew the family told case workers they witnessed the Harts withholding food and harshly punishing the children, and a Minnesota official who investigated the family said the mothers knew how to blame apparent red flags on their adopted children.

The details were among many new revelations in 42 pages of records released after a successful public records appeal by The Oregonian/OregonLive and other news organizations. Authorities believe Jen Hart drove the family's SUV off of a California cliff last month, killing all inside it. The family embarked on the trip shortly after Washington officials visited their Woodland home to investigate a child-welfare complaint.

When Oregon welfare workers checked on the family in 2013, the kids were ages 8 to 15. The investigation, opened in July of that year, was closed in December. The conclusion was that there were signs, but not definitive evidence, of abuse or neglect, and therefore no consequences or conditions for the parents.

Jen Hart posted this picture on Facebook of three of her children in February 2013, five months before Oregon child welfare officials opened an investigation into whether the parents were denying the children needed food. Shown are, from left, Jeremiah, then three weeks from turning 9, Sierra, then 7, and Devonte, then 10. A doctor determined that the weights and heights of all the Hart children except Jeremiah were below growth charts for their ages.

State officials said case workers have received training since then to do a better job making decisions about the safety of children who are extremely isolated from adults outside the family, like the Hart children.

Officials blacked out the names of all child welfare workers and the doctor involved in the case. The state did not provide any record showing that a supervisor signed off on the decision or why. The section of the case report that shows who approved the decision is blank.

Although the doctor who examined the children didn't know their health histories, Oregon case workers knew some of the children were found to be underweight in Minnesota.

Minnesota child welfare records show that a social worker said that, four years after the couple adopted their middle daughter, Abigail, the then 6-year-old was the size of a 2-year-old. Her school called child welfare authorities after she was seen going through garbage and taking food. Records indicate school officials stopped telling the Hart parents when their children took food at school so that the children would not be punished.

The Oregon doctor said she would follow up with the family during subsequent visits, the records indicate.

All of the children denied they had been abused, the worker wrote. All gave nearly identical accounts. None except the middle son, Devonte Hart, showed any emotion, however, the worker wrote. All of the children said that if they got into trouble, their parents disciplined them by requiring them to meditate for five minutes.

One person who alerted authorities said that while the family was staying in her home, the group ordered pizza and each child was only allowed one small piece. The next morning the pizza was gone. The woman told authorities Jen Hart became enraged and took all the children into a bathroom.

When they emerged, Jen Hart said none of them would be eating breakfast because no one would admit he or she had eaten the pizza, the woman reported. All the children then had to lie on a bed for four to five hours. They had to wear sleeping masks on their faces and lie with their arms at their sides, the woman said.

The children responded to questions by looking to Jen Hart for permission to talk, the woman said. They also appeared lethargic in person, unlike the animated children shown in photos shared on social media.

Another woman interviewed as part of the investigation said Jen Hart had reacted defensively when asked her why she only gave the children tiny amounts of food and kept them away from people outside the family. The woman said Jen Hart told her that Hannah Hart, the oldest daughter who had been noted to be "very small" and lacking front teeth, was morbidly obese at the time of her adoption. Jen Hart said the girl "now was so much better," the woman reported.

A photograph of Hannah Hart and her two biological siblings at the time they were adopted shows a slender, normal weight 4-year-old girl with all her teeth.

This photo collage shared on Facebook shows Markis, 8, Hannah, 4, and Abigail, 2, Hart at the time of their adoption in 2006 by Jen and Sarah Hart, according to a caption written by Jen Hart. A friend told child welfare investigators that Jen Hart described Hannah as morbidly obese when she was adopted.

Two women that Oregon case workers spoke to described Hannah and her biological brother Markis, the oldest of the Hart children, as the particular targets of Jen Hart's abuse.

One of the women said that Jen Hart told her that Markis tried to kill her once but that Devonte saved her. She witnessed Markis make a benign comment. In response, Jen Hart made him lie on a floor in a dark room for seven hours as punishment. Another time, on Markis' July 1 birthday, he got in trouble so no one could tell him "Happy birthday," the woman told Oregon case workers.

Oregon case workers are supposed to interview each child who is alleged to have been abused or neglected, then other important adults in their lives before interviewing the adults who are alleged to have abused them.

Instead, separate case workers interviewed the children and their parents at the same time during the same visit.

When Jen and Sarah Hart were interviewed, they told case workers they had been targeted in the past because they were vegetarian lesbians who adopted high-risk children while living in a small Midwestern town. They moved to Oregon to better fit in, they said.

The children came to them with food issues, they said. Jen Hart said she disciplined her children by talking to them, redirecting them and having them meditate. The report says Jen Hart "was adamant that many of the family's issues stemmed from others not understanding her family's alternative lifestyle."

Jen Hart reported that many of the children had medical issues upon adoption and she described her youngest son, Jeremiah, as "globally delayed" at the time of adoption. The couple said Jeremiah could not even use a fork when he came to them but was functioning normally now.

Jen Hart described Devonte as very violent and a victim of abuse in his birth mother's home. He was diagnosed with a mood disorder and ADHD, Jen Hart told case workers. But he no longer took medication for those conditions because the Hart parents did not believe those diagnoses, Jen Hart said. Although Jen Hart has said publicly that Devonte was shot at during his early childhood, she told the case worker that he had a gun held to his head.

The Hart parents described Devonte as thriving in their home. It was 14 months before a photograph of a tearful Devonte hugging a white police officer would gain worldwide notice. But Jen Hart told case workers the boy was already "famous nationwide for his 'free hugs.'" Jen Hart also told them she earned a degree in education. In fact, she dropped out of Northern State University in South Dakota without earning a degree.

Devonte Hart family crash 89 Gallery: Devonte Hart family crash

Oregon child welfare workers received their first complaint about the Hart family on July 18, 2013. They went to the home the next day, but no one came to the door, even though two vehicles with Minnesota license plates were in the driveway. Sarah Hart called them on July 22, but said Jen Hart and the children were traveling.

Oregon case workers were not able to meet with the Hart children and parents until five weeks after the initial report. The children were seen by the doctor in late October or early November. Case workers spoke with the doctor on Dec. 3, then told Sarah Hart on Dec. 26 that the investigation had been concluded. It was Abigail Hart's 10th birthday.

The worker told Sarah Hart the agency's conclusion was that it was unable to determine whether or not abuse or neglect had occurred and that it recommended regular medical check ups to monitor the children's heights and weights.

Sarah Hart contacted the case worker in June 2014 to say that the family was following Department of Human Services recommendations and having the children seen by a doctor again for a check up. During the investigation, the Harts had told case workers they believe in naturopathic medicine and would only take the children to a doctor for "serious issues."

Earlier, Minnesota child welfare investigators had fielded at least six reports that one or more of the Hart children had been neglected or abused.

An Oregon child welfare worker called a case worker in Minnesota to ask about the Hart children's adoptions and background. She wrote that the Minnesota worker told her that Texas carried out adoptions "even when the child welfare office has not supported the placement."

The Minnesota worker said that the problem with Jen and Sarah Hart was that they appear normal and can talk convincingly about the children having high needs and mental health issues related to food, both stemming back to their early lives before adoption. "Then people tend to assign the problems to these children," the Oregon worker wrote that the Minnesota worker told her.

"Without any regular or consistent academic or medical oversight, ... these children risk falling through the cracks," the Oregon worker wrote in her report.

One of the women who case workers spoke to about the Harts publicly stepped forward after the crash. Alexandra Argyropoulos has since started a petition calling on Congress to create a national registry of child-welfare reports.

State officials said in a statement that they believe the Hart case highlights the need for such a "clearinghouse" to avoid future tragedies.

Oregon workers were aware of six reports about the Hart family to Minnesota's child welfare agency during a three-month period from November 2010 through January 2011. All of the reports were tied to Hannah or Abigail Hart, biological siblings who were adopted in 2006. Abuse was found to be substantiated in two of the six investigations.

But Oregon workers did not learn of a 2008 investigation into allegations Jen Hart injured Hannah.

Oregon workers also did not learn that Sarah Hart had pleaded guilty to criminal abuse of Abigail until Sept. 24, 2013, two months after the investigation began. In that case, Abigail told investigators her mother had hit her because she had a penny that she claimed she had found but her mothers thought she had stolen it and that she was lying.

That was the only documented incident that resulted in consequences for either Hart parent. Sarah and Jennifer Hart were required to undergo in-home counseling and therapy, and the couple agreed to no longer physically discipline their children.

The final Minnesota child welfare report that Oregon officials learned about took place in January 2011. Hannah told a nurse she had not eaten all day. She said Jen Hart had shoved a banana and nuts in her mouth for being disrespectful. When the nurse asked Sarah Hart about what happened, Sarah Hart said "She's playing the food card. Just give her water," the nurse told a child welfare worker.

-- Molly Young

myoung@oregonian.com