Childswork Families for Safety & Accountability

Childswork Learning Center · Portland, Oregon

Our children deserved protection. Our families deserved to know.

We are current and former families of Childswork Learning Center. In March 2026, Childswork leadership learned that a former employee had been accused of sexually abusing a child in its care. Families were not told for approximately six months, until that employee was arrested and charged in September.

This site sets out what families are asking for and why: our statement to the Childswork Board and administration, the parent demands endorsed by more than 280 families and community members, a timeline of known events, and resources for families who need support.

Statement

Statement from families

The following letter was sent to the Childswork Board of Directors and administration by Childswork families.

Formal Demand for Leadership Removal and Accountability by October 28

Dear Childswork Board Members and Administration,

It has been nearly 3 weeks since families learned of the horrific child sexual abuse allegations against a former Childswork employee, and approximately six months since Childswork leadership first became aware of them. We are still waiting for meaningful answers and accountability.

We demand a meeting with the Board and administration, virtually or in person, no later than October 28, 2026, and written responses to each of the parent demands, endorsed by more than 280 families and community members, by that date.

Our immediate demand remains unchanged: Every administrator and Board member who knew about the allegations and approved, supported, or failed to challenge the decision to withhold that information from families for months must resign or be removed.

Your repeated claim that law enforcement prevented you from notifying families is contradicted by written documentation we have received directly from law enforcement. The decision to withhold this information was yours, and you must be held accountable for it. Those responsible have no business remaining in positions entrusted with children’s safety.

Determining who knew and who supported the decision not to inform families is not complicated. If you knew and supported or failed to challenge that decision, resign. If administrators refuse to resign, the Board must remove them. Board members who were complicit must also resign.

Our other demands remain unresolved, including an independent investigation, a review of records to identify when Ortiz was alone with children and individualized notification to affected families, stronger supervision safeguards, restrictions on personal cell phones, specialized sexual abuse prevention training, mental health support for families, and formal documentation and reporting of substantiated leadership failures to appropriate oversight bodies.

These are not new demands. Families have been asking for answers for nearly a month, and leadership had approximately six months before that to prepare. There is no justification for continued delays.

By October 28, we expect written responses to every demand, confirmation of the resignation or removal of responsible leadership, and a meeting with families to address these demands directly.

Childswork Families for Safety & Accountability

Demands

Parent demands for child safety and accountability

Presented at the October 9 town hall. We are asking Childswork to immediately:

  1. Adopt clear supervision safeguards and staff accordingly in order to prevent staff from being isolated with children without visibility and accountability. Notify parents of any concerns immediately.

  2. Eliminate the use of personal cell phones for school business involving children. If phones are necessary for classroom communication, documentation or photographs, Childswork Learning Center should provide school-owned devices that remain on site, are managed by the school and are used only for approved school purposes. Staff should not take or store photographs or videos of children on personal devices.

  3. Review all available records showing when Ortiz may have been alone with individual children. This should include check-in/check-out records, staffing schedules, classroom assignments, bathroom or transition practices, and any other documentation Childswork maintains. If those records show that a child was alone with Ortiz, that child’s parent or guardian should be directly informed.

  4. Provide each family with individualized information about their child’s documented contact with Ortiz to the fullest extent permissible. Ensure that any family with children who attended Childswork during Ortiz’s employment is notified of potential impact on their child.

  5. Provide families with a written accounting of what happened and a corrective-action plan with deadlines, responsible parties and regular progress updates.

  6. Require specialized child sexual abuse prevention, grooming-awareness and mandatory-reporting training for all staff, administrators and Board members yearly. Students shall also receive trauma-informed body safety curriculum in each classroom.

  7. Childswork Learning Center sexual abuse insurance should assist in therapy payments for impacted children or to provide an on-site school psychologist who is available for parents and students who can provide centralized low-barrier support for Childswork families.

  8. Commission an independent investigation into what Childswork knew, who knew it, how decisions were made, whether required disclosures were made, and why families were not notified.

  9. Remove any administrators and Board members who participated in or supported the decision to withhold this information from families. Any administrator or Board member who knew about the allegation and approved, supported or failed to challenge the decision to withhold it from families for approximately 6 months should resign or be removed.

  10. Ensure those leadership failures are formally documented and reported to the appropriate oversight bodies. Administrators found to have knowingly prioritized institutional interests over child safety should not simply be allowed to leave Childswork and move into another position of authority over children without that history following them through appropriate professional, licensing, regulatory and reference processes.

  11. Bring in an independent child-safety expert to review supervision, bathrooms, staffing practices and every situation in which an adult could be alone with a child.

  12. Childcare providers at Childswork will not face a “chilling effect” on reporting issues of child abuse. Release all written or verbal NDAs, retract any threats to employment, and allow teachers to discuss concerns with both legal authorities and parents, so that childcare providers can feel safe using their skills to protect children.

Endorsed by more than 280 families and community members.

If you are a Childswork parent, family member or community member, you can add your name to the demands.

Sign the demands Change.org petition

Timeline

Timeline of known events

Compiled by families from public records and Childswork communications. We include only events we have been able to confirm.

  1. The employee joins Childswork as a part-time and substitute teacher.

  2. Mar 3, 4 & 10, 2026

    The employee works as a substitute at the Tabor campus.

  3. A young child discloses abuse by a Childswork employee. The child’s family contacts police.

  4. 184 days Childswork knew. Families and PFA were not told.

  5. Police notify Childswork of the disclosure. The employee’s employment is terminated.

    Police arrest the employee, who is released because there is insufficient evidence at the time.

    Childswork states it notified “all appropriate authorities.” Preschool for All, Multnomah County’s public preschool program, is not notified.

  6. April 2026

    The Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) and the Office of Training, Investigations and Safety (OTIS) are notified, investigate, and find Childswork in compliance.

  7. Childswork’s Executive Director departs. An interim Executive Director is appointed.

  8. August 2026

    Childswork opens a new campus at Hosford-Abernathy, with additional publicly funded Preschool for All seats.

  9. Former employee Yonathan Ortiz is arrested again.

  10. The Multnomah County District Attorney files four felony counts.

  11. Childswork notifies families, roughly six months after leadership learned of the allegation.

  12. A parent who received Childswork’s email about the allegations contacts Preschool for All. This is the first time Preschool for All is notified.

  13. Police dispute Childswork’s claim that law enforcement told the school not to inform parents.

  14. Childswork holds a town hall. Families present the Parent Demands for Child Safety and Accountability. The interim Executive Director does not attend.

  15. Deadline set by families for a written response from the Board to each demand.

  16. Childswork publishes a public update and a website answering selected questions. Current leadership remains in place.

  17. Deadline set by families for a meeting with the Board and administration, written responses to every demand, and the resignation or removal of responsible leadership.

Resources

Resources for affected families

If you are worried about your child, you do not need to have answers before reaching out. These organizations can help.

Start here

CARES Northwest

CARES Northwest provides child abuse evaluations and support for children and families in Multnomah and Washington counties. Parents and legal guardians can request an appointment directly; a referral is not required.

Intake & information
503-276-9000 · Mon–Fri, 8 am–5 pm
Portland office
2800 N Vancouver Ave, Suite 201, Portland, OR 97227

Local counseling

Providers gathered by Childswork families. Please confirm insurance and availability directly with each practice. Listing here is not an endorsement.

Report a concern

Child in immediate danger
Call 911.
Oregon Child Abuse Hotline
1-855-503-SAFE (7233) · 24/7
Child Care Licensing (DELC)
To report a concern about a licensed child care provider: 1-800-556-6616 or report online.