Deschutes County human services staff warned the board on May 2 that a budget proposal to shift foster-home licensing from county Community Developmental Disability Programs to the state Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) could harm local providers and may not deliver the projected savings.

Paul Partridge, who supervises the county CDDP, said the governor's revised budget and the legislative budget process include a proposal to move roughly 38 county full-time-equivalent licensing positions into a centralized state office that would maintain about 20 positions. "The concerns that we have ... is that it is going to impact the relationships that our office has with our local providers," Partridge said. The state estimated about $2 million in savings from the shift, he said, but county staff said they have not seen the underlying fiscal-impact study.

Holly (county staff) told the board the state has had difficulty running similar centralized operations and that response and technical-assistance times have lagged since the state took over other functions. "They have not shown to really do a good job with it. They're behind," Holly said. She said local control provides faster, community-specific support for foster providers and casework.

Commissioners and staff agreed to brief legislators when they visit in coming weeks and to prepare concise talking points. "When the legislators come in the next two weeks, we're hoping to have a conversation at that time to get them in the loop on this," Holly said. Partridge and staff plan to pursue one-on-one meetings with local delegation members and requested a short handout of key talking points for upcoming visits.

No formal action was taken; county staff said they will ask visiting legislators about the proposal, share county concerns and seek to influence budget decisions in the Ways and Means process.