What Really Happened To Oregon Families During The Pandemic?

It goes without saying. The pandemic was rough on us all. On our health, our jobs, and our relationships. But, how terrible was the impact of COVID-19, really? This article answers that question, with hard numbers, as to whether the pandemic is associated with an increase or decrease in child welfare, divorce, driving under the influence arrests, and homicide reporting. 

Child Welfare

As the pandemic devastated homes nationwide, reports are that children were perhaps the most negatively affected by being unable to socialize and attend school. But what about children at home? Within the home? Did acts of neglect or abuse increase during the pandemic?

Reports to the Oregon Department of Health Services (DHS) (aka “Child Welfare”) actually decreased during the pandemic. DHS surveyed total reports of child abuse and/or neglect from several sources statewide. These sources included self-reported cases, police or medical contacts, and other mandatory reporting relationships a child may encounter. Figure 1 gives the number of total reports of Child Abuse and Neglect and tells the story that over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2021, total reports dropped. 

Figure 1: Reports vs. Founded Complaints of Child Abuse / Neglect From 2019 to 2022

1. 2019 Data provided by Department of Human Services, https://www.oregon.gov/dhs/CHILDREN/CHILD-ABUSE/Documents/2019-cw-data-book.pdf 
2. 2020 Data provided by Department of Human Services,

3. 2021 Data provided by Department of Human Services,

Because the pandemic forced children to remain home and away from usual outside-the-home interactions, the mechanisms for reporting child abuse were limited. Interactions with teachers, other children, doctors or nurses, reduced the interactions a child would typically rely on to self-report. Further, because children were on lockdown in their homes, away from the public, the overall attention to a given child was drastically restricted. Accordingly abuse and neglect reporting fell over the years hardest hit by the pandemic. 

The data is unclear as to whether or not actual acts of child neglect and/or abuse increased or decreased during the pandemic, but reports made to Child Welfare clearly decreased.

Domestic Relations

Beyond child welfare cases, interpersonal relationships in the home also suffered under the pressure imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary lockdown that followed. Though one single factor for the decline in reporting cannot be isolated, the correlation is apparent again due to the inability to report, file, or seek out support resources that would typically be available had the pandemic not closed typically available reporting channels. 

Data collected from Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, to measure the correlation, if any, between the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on interpersonal relationships is reported in the following Figures.

Divorce Filings 

Figure 2 illustrates that divorces in Multnomah County during the COVID-19 pandemic hovered around an average of 2,500. The divorce rate in Multnomah County reached a peak at the start of the pandemic and declined as the spread of pandemic slowed and lockdowns lifted. Between 2019 and 2022, the rate of divorce filings decreased approximately 10.0% or, just under 300 cases. This percentage is lower than the state-wide average. In 2020, the Oregon state-wide rate of divorce decreased by 45.0% as compared to previous years.

However, the rates of divorce are only one hallmark of how COVID-19 dominated interpersonal relationships within the home. Another significant measure is how families were affected by crimes of domestic violence. 

Figure 2:  Multnomah County Divorce Filings

1. Data provided by Multnomah County Circuit Court

Records

Domestic Violence

The pressures of the lockdown forced families to remain home. Before the pandemic, family members enjoyed escapes outside the home, such as work, school, or running errands to give relief to the natural pressures of the nuclear family setting. However, when the societal impacts of COVID-19 started to affect every inch of daily living, the nuclear family was not immune. 

Figure 3 shows the filings for charges of Domestic Violence in Multnomah County. Right as the pandemic started, filings were at the highest. This highest reporting in the period between 2019 to 2022 correlates with how the sudden effects of the lockdown impacted the sudden change to daily living. 

Figure 3: Filings for Charges of Domestic Violence (Multnomah County)

1. Data provided by Multnomah County District Attorney

In the time before the pandemic, the most extreme at-home circumstances–situations such as domestic abuse–would rely on involvement of others outside the nuclear family. Outsiders like friends, neighbors and, in the most extreme cases, law enforcement. 

Because the pandemic prevented involvement of others, especially law enforcement from responding to calls of domestic abuse as before the effects of COVID-19, when the pandemic and the corresponding mandating lockdown happened, domestic violence cases in Multnomah County peaked. However, in Washington and Clackamas Counties, the reporting was similar but starkly different that reported numbers of domestic violence in Multnomah County.

Figure 4: Filings for Charges of Domestic Violence (Washington County)

1. Data provided by Washington County District 

Attorney

Figure 5: Filings for Charges of Domestic Violence (Clackamas County)

1. Data provided by Clackamas County District 

Attorney

Unlike Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas Counties demonstrated a different influence from the COVID-19 pandemic on Domestic Violence charges. Whereas Multnomah County reported declining Domestic Violence charges between 2019 to 2022, Washington and Clackamas Counties showed a different trend. 

Both Washington and Clackamas counties declined in Domestic Violence charges at the start of the pandemic in 2019 but then reported higher Domestic Filing charges in 2022. 2022 coincides with the lowered restrictions of COVID-19 which would suggest more relief to the pressures of the nuclear family and thus lower Domestic Violence charges. 

Assuming that Domestic Violence charges are a result of the nuclear family forced to stay home without relief from extra-domestic (outside the home) activity, such as during the pandemic’s highest impact, one would expect that Domestic Violence charges would drop as restrictions are lifted. Accordingly, it is expected that Washington and Clackamas Counties would have the same Domestic Violence charges trend as Multnomah County. Namely, that charges would decline. Since, as the number show, the 2019 filings of Domestic Violence charges are actually lower than when the pandemic’s influence started to diminish in 2022, there possibly is likely another significant cause for Domestic Violence trends in Washington and Clackamas Counties, other than the societal impacts of COVID-19. 

Restraining Orders

The pandemic forced many government services like child protective support, response to domestic violence cases, and law enforcement generally to make difficult choices to maintain public safety while reducing the pandemic’s threat to public health. Essential services had to remain available, in some capacity, despite the pandemic.

Similarly, essential services provided by judges and their administrative staff had to do their part to help stop the spread of COVID-19 while remaining available to help maintain public safety in other arenas. During the pandemic, the ability for the court system and administrative support staff to process certain essential legal mandates such as protective order and restraining orders had to continue despite the harmful influence of the pandemic.

Though the court reduced in-person court appearances, court obligations had to continue. Thus, despite Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s executive order for Oregonians to stay home, some essential court services remained. Though all trials, hearings—civil or criminal—were pushed back, exceptions were required for those hearings deemed “essential” for purposes of public welfare. It was during this time, that the remote hearing procedure began to become a standard of everyday court business. This standard sustained during the pandemic for the Oregon courts’ Family Law department. The Family Law department encompasses matters relating to domestic relations, child welfare, divorce cases, and restraining order proceedings.

Family Law proceedings are essential for family members: adults, children, as well as close and distant relatives. Because the pandemic had such an effect on what occurred inside the home, the court system had to remain available to assist in a distinctly different, but necessary, public welfare role.

Figure 6 shows the correlation of the pandemic on filings of Restraining Orders in Multnomah County, Oregon. Again, though no one specific cause can be identified, the numbers show that at the beginning of the pandemic, in 2019, there were fewer filings than in 2022. The difference of restraining order filings between 2019 and 2022 are just under 300 cases. This close to the 300 cases difference of divorce filings reported above

While these numbers appear similar, it is worthwhile to suggest that, at times, circumstances of surrounding divorce, domestic violence and restraining orders are not completely isolated. The shelter-at-home necessity of the pandemic put families more at risk since the close quarter pressures within the home added to the stress of health concerns,  financial pressures of employment, and overall economic survival. It is not so far-fetched to believe that domestic violence and restraining orders numbers would appear to have similar statistics.

Oregon State Police & DUI Charges

DUI Charges

Traffic volume at the beginning of the pandemic decreased significantly. The lockdown mandate forced decreased numbers of cars on the road. As families were forced to stay at home, the direct result was fewer people commuting to their workplaces, running for errands (except for essential travel), and enjoying leisure activities. 

As the impact of COVID-19 rippled through every facet of society, law enforcement agencies such as the Oregon State Police limited traffic enforcement to reduce the exposure of staff to the wider population. Figure 7 shows the number of arrests for Driving Under the Influence charges from 2019 to 2022 reported by the Oregon State Police. Though the 2019 DUI charges reflect a time before the pandemic was in full swing, and the institution of the lockdown mandate, the 2020 reported charges align more closely with the mandate’s effect on drivers. Interestingly, since the retail sales of alcohol actually rose during the pandemic, the lack of alcohol consumption is not a reason for the reduction of DUIs in 2020.

Figure 7: Arrests for Driving Under the Influence

1. Data provided by Oregon State Police

Portland Police Bureau: DUI Charges and Homicide Rates

Homicide Rates

Though it is difficult to pinpoint a specific cause of crime during the pandemic, cities across the nation did report an increase in crime rates. Violent crime rates, including robbery, assault and homicide, rose during the pandemic. Portland, in particular, also experienced a significant rise from the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 to height of the lockdown mandate in 2020.

Figure 9 provides the numbers of reported homicide in Portland from 2019 to 2022. According to Willamette Weekly, Portland’s homicide rate increased 83% from 2019 to 2020. Some would like to assert that the political climate of the country during the pandemic, calling for police reform and defunding, was the cause behind a rise in violent crimes. However, research does not support that hypothesis.  

According to a report from  the Brennan Center, studies trying to link the rise in violent crime to defunding police departments have not withstood serious vetting. The City of Portland during the pandemic endured political upheaval, mass demonstrations, riots and simultaneous cries for police reform. Yet, the assertion that political rife negatively impacted the ability of police to      effectively respond to crimes remains unfounded. 

References

1. Child Welfare:

2. Divorce Filings, Multnomah County:

3. Domestic Violence:

4. Restraining Orders

5. Oregon State Police and Portland Police Bureau:

https://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-washington-northwest-impaired-driving-arrests-decline-coronavirus-pandemic/ https://www.opb.org/article/2022/03/07/portland-alcohol-related-traffic-fatalities-likely-increased-during-pandemic-officials-say/ 

Image Sources

1. https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/700childrens/2017/04/recognizing-signs-of-child-abuse-and-neglect 
2. https://www.opb.org/article/2022/03/07/portland-alcohol-related-traffic-fatalities-likely-increased-during-pandemic-officials-say/