Senate passes expansion of System of Care Advisory Council after debate over lived‑experience requirements

The Oregon Senate on May 7 passed House Bill 2924 to expand and modify the membership of the System of Care Advisory Council, a body that advises state agencies on services for youth and families.

Sponsor Senator Reynolds said the bill increases the council’s capacity to advise on policy for youth ages 0 to 25 and raises public‑member representation of people with lived experience. “The council's goal is to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of child‑serving state agencies and the continuum of care that provides services to youth ages 0 to 25,” Reynolds said while introducing the measure. The bill passed on a recorded roll call with 27 ayes; the transcript records at least two no votes.

Senator Gelser Bluen, speaking in support, emphasized the importance of lived experience and urged the Legislature to ensure the council includes people from the intellectual and developmental disability community and family advocates. “It is important that all of the work that we do is informed by those with lived experience,” she said, and recommended organizations focused on youth and family advocacy as fitting sources for appointees.

Senator Hayden voiced explicit opposition, arguing that the bill removes statutory language that required at least two council members be youth who had been wards or adjudicated youth. Hayden said the original 2019 statute guaranteed peer support from youth who had been in the system and warned that the change erodes that guarantee. Hayden concluded by stating opposition to the measure for those reasons.

In floor discussion Senator Bonham said he supported increasing public participation overall but shared Hayden’s concern that the bill replaces more specific language about youth who were wards with broader wording such as “involved with,” which he saw as less protective of peer representation.

Senator Reynolds closed by reporting that the executive director of the System of Care Advisory Council, Anna Williams, had told him the updated language was intended to reduce stigma for youth who might be hesitant to self‑identify as wards while preserving lived‑experience representation.

The bill expands council membership and increases the number of public members under age 25; supporters characterized the change as making the council more inclusive, while opponents said it weakens a specific statutory peer requirement. The Senate passed the bill and it will be transmitted according to legislative process.