Quick Answer: When an Oregon agency fails to tell adoptive parents what it knows about a child’s abuse history, diagnoses, or dangerous behaviors, families may have claims for negligent or fraudulent misrepresentation. They may also qualify for higher adoption assistance to pay for treatment. Justin Grosz, an Oregon-licensed attorney in Portland, represents adoptive families and children in these cases.
A Family Built on Incomplete Information
Adopting a child from foster care is one of the most generous decisions a family can make. Oregon depends on those families. Every year, children whose parents’ rights have been terminated wait for permanent homes, and many are adopted by foster parents, relatives, and families who come forward through ODHS or private agencies.
Adoptive parents commit to a child based on what they’re told. They review summaries, meet caseworkers, sometimes read portions of a file, and make one of the largest decisions of their lives. They expect that the agency has shared what it knows.
Sometimes it hasn’t. Families learn months or years later that their child had a documented history of sexual abuse, a serious psychiatric diagnosis, prenatal substance exposure, or a pattern of aggression toward younger children, all recorded in files they never saw. By then, the child may be in crisis, other children in the home may have been harmed, and the family may be facing costs it couldn’t have planned for.
This is the territory of wrongful adoption claims. Families in this position often turn to a wrongful adoption attorney in Oregon to understand what happened and what can be done.
What “Wrongful Adoption” Means
Wrongful adoption is not a claim that the adoption itself should be undone. It’s a claim that the agency’s failure to disclose, or its misrepresentation of, important information caused harm to the family and the child.
Courts across the country began recognizing these claims in the 1980s. A widely cited early case, Burr v. Board of County Commissioners, decided by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1986, held an agency liable after it described a child in misleadingly positive terms while withholding his serious history. Since then, courts in many states have allowed claims based on established legal principles:
| Theory | What It Involves |
|---|---|
| Intentional misrepresentation | Agency knowingly gave false information |
| Fraudulent concealment | Agency deliberately hid known facts |
| Negligent misrepresentation | Agency carelessly gave inaccurate information |
| Negligent failure to disclose | Agency had a duty to share facts and didn’t |
Oregon courts apply general principles of fraud, misrepresentation, and negligence. Which theory fits depends on what the agency knew, what it said, and what it left out. An Oregon adoption fraud lawyer can compare the agency’s file with what the family was actually told.
What Agencies Are Expected to Share
Oregon law and ODHS rules call for adoptive families to receive the available health, social, and background history of the child they’re adopting. The purpose is practical: parents can’t meet a child’s needs, or keep other children safe, without knowing what those needs are.
Information that commonly matters includes:
- Prior physical or sexual abuse the child experienced
- Sexualized or aggressive behavior toward other children
- Psychiatric diagnoses and hospitalizations
- Prenatal exposure to alcohol or drugs
- Developmental disabilities and medical conditions
- Placement disruptions and the reasons behind them
- Family medical and mental health history
Agencies may redact identifying information about birth families. That’s different from withholding facts about the child’s own health and behavior. A summary that leaves out a known history of sexual aggression, or describes a child with years of psychiatric treatment as “a little shy,” can leave a family badly unprepared.
Conditions That Are Often Missed or Minimized
Some of the most serious undisclosed conditions are ones that shape a child’s behavior in ways a family can’t manage without specialized help.
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Children who experienced severe early neglect or repeated loss of caregivers can develop reactive attachment disorder. They may have deep difficulty forming bonds, resist comfort, or act out in ways that strain the whole family. Early, appropriate therapy makes a real difference, which is why parents need to know about it at the start.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause lifelong effects on learning, memory, impulse control, and judgment. Records of a birth mother’s drinking during pregnancy are directly relevant to a child’s care and should be shared.
Sexualized Behavior and Prior Sexual Abuse
Children who were sexually abused may act out sexually toward other children. Without warning and a safety plan, younger siblings in an adoptive home can be harmed. This is one of the most serious consequences of nondisclosure. It can create claims on behalf of the injured siblings as well as the adopted child.
Serious Mental Health Conditions
Histories of psychiatric hospitalization, self-harm, or violent episodes affect what kind of home, supervision, and treatment a child needs.
When Siblings Are Harmed
One of the most painful outcomes of nondisclosure is harm to other children in the home. Parents who would have arranged separate bedrooms, constant supervision, or a different placement entirely had they known the history may instead discover abuse among their own children.
In those cases, the injured siblings may have their own legal claims, separate from the adoptive parents’ claims and from the adopted child’s. The adopted child, who never got the treatment they needed, may also have a claim. A careful review looks at every family member who was affected. An Oregon negligent misrepresentation adoption lawyer can evaluate how the duty to disclose extends to everyone in the household.
Disruption and Dissolution: A Second Trauma
When an adoptive family can’t safely care for a child, the placement may break down before the adoption is finalized, called disruption, or after, called dissolution. Either one is devastating for the child, who loses yet another family.
Many of these breakdowns are preventable. With accurate information, families can arrange therapy, respite care, school supports, and safety plans before a crisis. Without it, they’re left reacting to emergencies.
Families considering whether they can keep their child safely at home should know two things:
- Temporary residential treatment can sometimes stabilize a child so they can return home, and adoption assistance may help pay for it.
- Informal transfers of custody to strangers, sometimes called rehoming, bypass child welfare oversight and can put children at serious risk. Any change in custody should go through proper legal channels.
Adoption Assistance: Funding a Child’s Care
Many children adopted from Oregon foster care qualify for adoption assistance, a monthly payment and medical coverage intended to help families meet a child’s special needs. The amount is set in an agreement signed before the adoption is finalized.
Families often sign that agreement without knowing the child’s full needs. When the true picture emerges, the original amount may be far too low to cover intensive therapy, residential care, or specialized schooling.
Key points about adoption assistance:
| Issue | What Families Should Know |
|---|---|
| Initial agreement | Set before finalization, based on known needs |
| Renegotiation | Families can request a review when needs change |
| Medical coverage | Children typically receive Oregon Health Plan coverage |
| Nondisclosure | Undisclosed history can support a request for more help |
| Appeals | Families can contest decisions through administrative review |
An adoption subsidy lawyer in Oregon can help families document a child’s needs, request renegotiation, and appeal decisions. In some cases, pursuing higher assistance and bringing a damages claim go hand in hand.
Building the Case
Wrongful adoption cases turn on documents. The central question is simple: what did the agency know, and what did it tell the family?
Evidence often includes:
- The child’s complete ODHS or agency file
- Prior therapist, hospital, and school records
- Placement histories and disruption reports
- The written summary given to the adoptive family
- Notes from pre-adoption meetings
- The adoption assistance agreement and supporting materials
- Emails and letters between the family and caseworkers
Families should keep everything they received during the adoption process, even documents that seem minor. Comparing the summary families received with the full file is often where the case comes together.
What Families Can Recover
Depending on the claims and the parties involved, recovery may cover:
- Costs of therapy, psychiatric care, and residential treatment
- Medical expenses for the adopted child and any injured siblings
- Emotional distress for family members
- Specialized education and support services
- Future care costs, which can be substantial for lifelong conditions
Claims against ODHS and other public bodies are subject to the Oregon Tort Claims Act, with notice requirements and damage limits. Claims against private adoption agencies follow ordinary rules. Because tort claim notice periods can be short, families should seek advice as soon as they discover the undisclosed information.
Post-Adoption Help in Oregon
Legal action is only one source of help. Oregon adoptive families can also use:
- The Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center, which offers training, support groups, and referrals
- ODHS post-adoption services and adoption assistance reviews
- Trauma-informed therapists experienced with adopted children
- School special education services through IEPs and 504 plans
Using these resources doesn’t prevent a family from pursuing a claim. Documentation from therapists and schools often strengthens it.
Families Across Oregon
Adoptive families live in every part of the state, and children are often adopted far from where they were first placed. Families can get help in communities including:
- Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, and Hillsboro
- Salem
- Eugene, Springfield, and Corvallis
- Bend
- Medford
Families on Portland’s east side often contact a Gresham adoption lawyer through the Portland office, and western Washington County families can work with a Hillsboro child injury attorney from the same team.
Oregon-Licensed Counsel: Justin Grosz
Justin Grosz – Oregon-Licensed Attorney. Justin Grosz, a licensed Oregon attorney, represents children and families harmed by failures in child welfare, foster care, and adoption systems. A partner and co-leader of the firm’s child welfare division, he has tried more than 230 jury trials to verdict. In Oregon adoption matters, he focuses on what agencies knew about a child’s history and whether they disclosed it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we bring a claim if the adoption was finalized years ago?
Possibly. Timing usually runs from when the family discovered, or should have discovered, the undisclosed information. Claims against public bodies have strict notice rules, so act quickly after discovery.
Does bringing a claim mean giving up our child?
No. Wrongful adoption claims don’t undo an adoption. Many families pursue claims precisely so they can afford the care their child needs at home.
What if the agency says it didn’t know?
The records will show what was in the file. Agencies can also be responsible for information they should have gathered and shared.
Can our biological children bring claims too?
If siblings were harmed because the agency didn’t disclose a known risk, they may have their own claims.
Can we increase our adoption assistance?
Families can request renegotiation when a child’s needs change or new information comes to light, and they can appeal decisions they disagree with.
Contact Information
Adoptive families can reach a wrongful adoption attorney in Oregon at the Portland office:
Justice for Kids® – Oregon
6500 S. Macadam Avenue
Suite 380
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: 503-783-8481
Toll-Free: 844-4KIDLAW (454-3529)
Oregon-licensed attorney: Justin Grosz
Sources and Further Reading
- Burr v. Board of County Commissioners of Stark County, Ohio Supreme Court (1986)
- Oregon Department of Human Services, Adoption Assistance Program
- Oregon Revised Statutes 30.260–30.300, Oregon Tort Claims Act
- Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Welfare Information Gateway, “Adoption Disruption and Dissolution”
- Child Welfare Information Gateway, “Providing Background Information to Adoptive Parents”
- Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, Adoption Assistance
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, “Reactive Attachment Disorder”
About the Author
