Oregon parents are asking our elected officials to instruct the Governor to create a Task Force on Family Separation in Family Courts. This task force would allow a structured, bipartisan review of the following critical issues:
 

• The public health impact of parent–child separation
• Judicial compliance with existing statutes
• Gaps in equal-protection safeguards
• Trauma-informed best practices
   

This task force will confront the ongoing healthcare emergency for Oregon's children, patterns of judicial retaliation and overreach, and gaps in constitutional protections against discrimination - all occurring in family courts across Oregon.
 

1. The CDC ranks Oregon highest in the country for "Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)." Each ACE increases a child's lifelong risk for devastating health, emotional, economic, and social damages. Separation from loving, fit caregivers is a known ACE from which children have no statutory protections in existing Oregon statutes.
2. HB2712 gave record raises to Oregon judges, but it also instructed the Chief Justice "to take actions and establish rules that promote judicial accountability and fair and accessible justice services." The judicial salaries were increased; the accountability and fair access components (Section 5) have not been enacted as of this session.
3. A statewide poll from December 2025 demonstrated overwhelming support for children to have equal access to both parents, prohibition against discrimination in family courts, and increased judicial accountability.
4. State leaders have been advocating strongly against federal policies that separate children from their parents. Oregon families want those same protections for ourselves.
    

Our hope is that Oregon can become a leader in trauma-informed family courts and best practices. We are asking the Governor of Oregon to create a limited-duration, cross-agency Task Force that will examine family separation in family court and to produce subsequent recommendations.