[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6613678,"mediaKeyId","2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a","parentId",2867665,"title","State and union staff warn 50% cut to SACU would displace residents, strain crisis care","audioSeconds",2502,"startMs",870000,"endMs",3372000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a&start=870&end=3372","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a/thumbnail_870000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6613678/Oregon/State-and-union-staff-warn-50-cut-to-SACU-would-displace-residents-strain-crisis-care","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6613678-f1a2be7b47fd8a1c8723d41d4cfb3ead/orig.mp4?Expires=1770896967&Signature=HLuWwUAoQecXAwQGX8tsfn8qAYn2ZZKzFRWzV3RlW4jkn7G7wcY8ySjbVjlv483ExUOmTknfhwdgPBwzvMhuFDRDvDq4CxIlvWN0MDneLO0-CFiUydq5oLK1H1DlH0n3yHiYvsnDXHyJaK~tYzn789rVWo~50Uk~Onsd754QhtQ6e5pbHGlOHV4EBLUZXg-WXVCqy~lwbOfr7GDgDXWT0XUGDf16zhxAVO2vCRcZu~1HdxrRMBU-4YY903kyAieRAj8ycscj4CvdeW-wZ31dlYRZPXwDdx5Xje-mv~QvgYLk6wE4W3XORqLdjJhiRVgAZ40D1yrT9RxXNhp6HSDj9A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Oregon State Legislature","date","2025-04-03T00:00:00Z","article","At the public hearing on Senate Bill 5526, numerous employees of the Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU), union representatives and advocacy groups opposed a proposed reduction to SACU funding that would reduce the program’s size and move some state‑operated homes to private providers.

Bradley Capps, a SACU worker, told the subcommittee he was in “deep opposition to the proposed budget cuts presented to SACU” and said cutting SACU in half “would reduce roughly 50 more crisis beds from Oregon as a whole.” Christina Seinsdricker Brown, who identified herself as a direct support crisis specialist and president of SACU Local 1246, said the reduction came after staff had recently been told SACU would expand, and called the proposed cuts “devastating.”

Disability Rights Oregon’s Ben Gurewitz urged caution and said the department had not engaged in comprehensive planning for transitions. “Before individuals are safely transitioned out of the SACUs, there needs to be a multiple disciplinary team for each individual,” Gurewitz said, noting legal advocates must be part of individualized transition planning and that the state should maintain current service levels until thorough planning occurs.

Many SACU staff and leaders described the program as uniquely trained to support people with high acuity and complex behavior who have been unable to remain in community placements. Heather Clawson, a direct support crisis specialist, said SACU staff are trained at significantly higher levels than many community placements and that the unit’s lower turnover provides continuity of care.

Employees and union representatives described a lack of stakeholder engagement in planning. An AFSCME representative told the committee that a consultant report had been produced at substantial cost but that the broader set of stakeholders had not been given adequate opportunities to participate, and urged the Legislature to fund SACU at its current service level while convening a deliberate transition process.

Speakers warned that closures and rapid transitions without funded community placements and adequate workforce development would push some residents into homelessness, incarceration or repeated unsuccessful placements. “To reduce funding to SACU would, without question, diminish individuals' quality of life,” said Chris Edwards, who described decades of experience supporting the population and warned that closures would be “detrimental to their life, as well as their life expectancy.”

Ending: Witnesses urged the subcommittee to preserve SACU staffing and beds at current levels, ensure comprehensive per‑person transition planning and invest in community providers before any large‑scale reductions in SACU capacity are implemented.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Joint Committee On Ways and Means Subcommittee On Human Services 04/03/2025 1:00 PM","oneSentenceSummary","Frontline staff, union representatives and Disability Rights Oregon told the Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee that proposed cuts or a rapid transition of the Stabilization and Crisis Unit would displace residents and reduce Oregon’s crisis capacity.","taxTitle","Human Services, Ways and Means, Joint, Committees, Legislative, Oregon","taxId",18635,"location","Oregon","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6613683,"Providers, families urge Legislature to close $558 million IDD funding gap",5547,343000,5890000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a&start=343&end=5890","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a/thumbnail_343000.jpg","/articles/6613683/Oregon/Providers-families-urge-Legislature-to-close-558-million-IDD-funding-gap","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6613683-9b5049987d97b8df7e975f6f9672fabd/orig.mp4?Expires=1770896967&Signature=WbO124OjKZCXrKVM~fqFGAKVA1~CRf0rmuXju4JaSJB16nZbE4RXBy0LptPtvAPMUdBiYwM5Pz2XJCNx9MfhhOilRuWc5ql54ph20lvHzx4bvPXfET3dmsS1VPZxigBcoJLFvplsc9obU6d588YPv0q7z~wjeAY2rUWhVQo-CoGIW8YBwnQkVaWBIcj1b7sEKgk~tt6l8kxl5HYTBOCRhf~Ff~WzMXVdVpoffaA7pA2bYIBaW4eyx9vBKl4Uqz-L9z24XP7fUQsMCQ84-iRbgLzArWVSiCAO9IBX-9aR2JY0Kb89d2wwzp~BfqTEsx2zhgzlQ4yy2MgndThIwOpbqA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Members of the Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 5526 and heard sweeping testimony that Oregon’s community-based intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) system lacks sufficient funding to sustain providers and the workforce that supports tens of thousands of people with IDD.

“By now, you've no doubt aware of the $558,000,000 gap in DD services funding,” said Alan Kress, executive director of Edwards Center, at the hearing. Kress and other nonprofit providers said the difference between current reimbursement rates and the legislatively directed 2024 rate study is forcing agencies to subsidize services, squeeze reserves and struggle to retain staff.

The funding gap has immediate workforce consequences, witnesses said. Multiple providers described direct support professional (DSP) turnover and hiring pressures: the state’s rate model assumes an average DSP wage of $18.77 an hour, speakers said, while agencies are paying $2 to $4 more per hour to retain staff. “We must raise that wage,” Kress said, noting his agency keeps administrative expenses low so the bulk of revenue goes to programs.

Community providers, self-advocates and family-network leaders pressed the subcommittee for three types of investments: (1) targeted funding to close the rate-model gap identified in the 2024 study, (2) annual cost‑of‑living adjustments for contracts, and (3) sustained support for family networks and self-advocacy programs that help families and people with disabilities navigate services. Amber Meer, representing the Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition, asked for “a $3,500,000 investment in fully funding the existing family networks” and for support of Policy Option Package 117, “which includes the $600,000 to support the groundwork of expanding the family networks.”

Parents and self-advocates urged attention to specific policy changes. Callie Ross, a parent, urged the legislature to prioritize funding for Tenzi’s Law, SB 538, and to ensure the children’s extraordinary needs (CEN) waiver provides access to paid parent caregivers for eligible families. Advocates said recent workforce shortages in home and community‑based services disproportionately harm children with complex medical and developmental needs.

Providers asked the subcommittee to consider House Bill 2150‑2, a bill they said would provide an annual cost‑of‑living adjustment. “Our survivalism approach is only sustainable for so long,” Anna Keenan Mudrick, representing the Community Providers Association of Oregon, told the committee. Several CEOs and long‑time DSPs described organizations drawing on reserves, taking on debt or subsidizing state contracts to keep homes and services open.

Speakers also tied funding to service stability across the state. Alexis Alberti, division director for Multnomah County IDD, said case management in Multnomah County is increasingly complex and that case management services are funded at roughly 86% of need; she urged 100% funding to reduce caseloads and wait times.

The hearing focused on budget priorities rather than votes; committee members closed the public record with an announcement that written testimony would remain open until the date provided by staff. Providers and family‑network leaders urged the legislature to prioritize the DHS IDD budget within SB 5526 to prevent service reductions and to stabilize a workforce they described as essential to keeping people with IDD safe and connected to their communities.

Ending: Testimony at the public hearing repeatedly framed the $558 million figure as the immediate shortfall driving turnover, unfilled shifts and provider insolvency; witnesses asked the subcommittee to phase investments that include closing the rate‑model gap, instituting COLAs and sustaining family networks and self‑advocacy supports.","Members of the Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 5526 and heard providers, DSPs, family‑network leaders and self‑advocates urge full funding for community intellectual and developmental disability services to address a $558 million shortfall identified by a 2024 rate study.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6613673,"Eligibility workers say understaffing and complex rules slow benefit access",181,5575000,5756000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a&start=5575&end=5756","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2867665-a4ef9eaaed97588d4f3c84970953fe7a/thumbnail_5575000.jpg","/articles/6613673/Oregon/Eligibility-workers-say-understaffing-and-complex-rules-slow-benefit-access","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6613673-95f889af44c5a2b4b7828e5ae7890ba8/orig.mp4?Expires=1770896967&Signature=MHnblHTLOyveTTcarblRzBz6m17JBjsU8ozERm-y0WrXkKs9q03y7MOzMpL2znqMsZzqthdDIRGs-98sw-RXwOa6VNtlC8vMkZFTyAj8kVlhyZzZUhC57Zx6AlJvgLXjnfbnc2Y8yUCSypZG493uoknPkQcxk5QthqBgJneCOpm7J0HEU1wOAzaR1xMtZtP0zEjPRl5Lop8nYtu04IYexonvuQA~uF8q~64RiQqZCKKVXmuf9h~dgbiSxnYA8zMuYIA8V0Q-uZKcqwEmVMtqrKe48YZFBYtJ5Fw-UOPvJRt3~QIWz6bp9CqRu7lhSwyNhOPj~R9l9QDsDc0Clc9q8A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Multiple eligibility workers and supervisors testified at the public hearing on Senate Bill 5526 about the workload and training pressures facing the Oregon Eligibility Partnership (OEP), which handles public‑benefit eligibility determinations.

Jennifer Cranmer, a conservation worker (VEC) for OEP, told the committee she brought “this stack of papers” to illustrate the program’s complexity and said the OEP procedure manual is about 1,300 pages. Cranmer said OEP uses “200 resource guides” and multiple external systems, and that workers are expected to interpret trusts, annuities and tax documents after only a few hours of training. “We are currently funded at 46% of the staff,” she said, and described lengthy casework when unfamiliar issues arise.

Rachel Kinnemer, an eligibility worker who said she had previously been a benefits recipient, told the subcommittee that recent training improvements paired new staff with leads and provided better oversight, but that the unit needs many more leads to maintain accuracy and speed. “I would really love to see that moving forward; I don't know that that's possible if we don't have the leads available to help people who are actually on the phone,” she said.

Witnesses urged the subcommittee to fund additional staffing and sustained training time so eligibility workers can provide accurate, timely decisions that determine access to SNAP, TANF, medical coverage and other benefits. They said current understaffing lengthens time to resolve complex files and can delay lifesaving assistance.

Ending: Eligibility witnesses asked the subcommittee to exceed the governor’s recommendation for OEP staffing and to invest in leads and training to reduce backlogs and maintain accuracy in benefit determinations.","Eligibility staff for the Oregon Eligibility Partnership told the Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee that chronic understaffing, complex procedures and insufficient lead‑worker support are delaying benefit decisions and that the unit is currently funded at roughly 46% of needed staff levels, according to testimony","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

State and union staff warn 50% cut to SACU would displace residents, strain crisis care

Providers, families urge Legislature to close $558 million IDD funding gap

Eligibility workers say understaffing and complex rules slow benefit access