It may have been a one-year breather, but that hasn't stopped anyone from cheering.

A report by the Oregon Department of Human Services has bumped Coos County out of the top five and all the way down to 15th place for the number of child abuse/neglect cases in 2004. It's the first time since 1997 the county hasn't been among the state's 10 most dangerous counties for children.

"To me, this is absolutely huge," said Judy McMakin, director of the Coos County Commission on Children and Families.

For 2004, their were 214 confirmed cases of abuse in this county or 15.6 per 1,000 children - the lowest number in eight years.

It's huge, in part, because child abuse in every other county in the state isn't necessarily skyrocketing. About half of the counties saw an increase, but the abuse rates dropped for the others.

What works

As always with statistics, there needs to be explanation. In years past, local children's advocates have talked about programs they wished would help overcome the stressors that lead to child abuse. This spring, they talked about what they believe are some of the successes.

"I think that Coos County has done a lot with the parenting," Nancylee Stewart said.

Stewart is the state Child Welfare department's program manager for Coos and Curry counties. She said it's been a long battle and a long time since the county has been out of the top 10. She thinks it's partnerships that have paid off, she said.

A committee of people who work with programs focusing on early childhood issues has worked hard in recent years to coordinate services. They pool programs for grant money, increasing not only efficiency, but also the chances of winning funding.

Recently, there's been an effort to offer more training for childcare workers and to ensure more childcare is available. Ironically, Coos County's previous child-abuse ratings in the top five helped programs pull in those public and private dollars. Whether that all helped knock down child abuse is up for debate.

"I think it's really hard to identify what makes that change," said Laurie Potts, the childhood education director at Southwestern Oregon Community College.

But undoubtedly getting all groups to talk together before asking for money helped. The first success was winning a grant from the Ford Family Foundation to fund "Coos County Kids: Whatever it Takes, We'll do it!" effort. The program brought hundreds of parents together countywide at gatherings teaching people how to have fun and better ways to parent.

"I can't imagine that that grant did not have a great impact," Potts said.

The program targeted not just the traditional people - those living on low incomes or people struggling with drug and alcohol problems - but all families.

A lot of money trickles down from the federal government for programs such as Even Start, helping parents pursue their own education, while having them spend time in their children's classrooms. For Potts, older programs deserve credit, too. She still believes even the familiar Head Start can be a tremendous help to families.

Some win, some lose

There's an irony in the statewide statistics, too. This area, that has seen methamphetamine abuse devastate families for more than a decade, is no longer alone. The meth epidemic started in the West has moved East. It's considered the No. 1 problem for social services not just in Oregon, but nationwide, this decade, said Patricia Feeny, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Counties such as Coos are ahead in some ways, having dealt with the problems surrounding meth for seemingly ages.

Of course, there are some counties in the state that defy the odds. Benton County, with the county seat at Corvallis, has the lowest child-abuse rate in the state at 4.3 incidents per thousand children.

"It depends on what resources the community has in place. It depends on what alcohol and drug programs are in place," Feeny said, adding affluence certainly can improve a family's odds.

Looking ahead, Feeny said, people need to remember that there are finite resources for the programs that do work. Government programs can't provide all the answers. More people need to step up, Feeny said, and that includes people offering to become foster parents.

Wanted: foster homes

For Coos County, enlisting foster care parents has been a particular challenge.

"It's a problem all over, even down in Curry County," Foster Home Certifier Greg Reichenberger said recently.

Many families end up adopting, which leaves fewer homes. And the emotional and time commitments can be overwhelming for others.

"Once in a while people call up looking for second job and they want to make extra money," Reichenberger said. "We tell them. 'You're in the wrong profession.'"

On the up side, local foster parents are helping hundreds of children. Their successes haven't been unrecognized, with the local foster parents association having been recognized this year as the No. 1 association in the nation.

But 2005 is shaping up to be a perplexing year.

Still, half of the children in foster care are younger than 5. Still, drug and alcohol abuse are considered the No. 1 factor in child abuse. And still, there are more reports of child abuse, which in part may be the result of people being more aware.

And despite the talk of successes, the number of children in foster care here has rebounded since January to previous highs.

Children's advocates are hoping that's just a blip, not an indicator Coos County is moving back up in the child-abuse rankings.