Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Contracts And Grants topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oregon Youth Authority seeks broader grant and contracting authority for community placements
Summary
Oregon Youth Authority told the House Judiciary Committee Senate Bill 818A would let the agency use more flexible contracting and grant models — such as capacity payments — to secure community placement providers, improve stability and serve youth with complex needs.
Oregon Youth Authority staff told the House Committee on Judiciary they support Senate Bill 818A to broaden the agency’s contracting and grant authority for community residential placements and other services. The change would allow models beyond the current fee-for-service approach, proponents said.
Debbie Martin, legislative coordinator for OYA, told the committee that the agency has historically used fee-for-service contracts to pay providers only for days a youth occupies a bed. That model has worked in many cases, she said, but OYA seeks flexibility to use other contracting approaches — for example, a capacity payment model that pays a flat fee to guarantee a number of beds or to fund specialized providers who maintain trained staff even when occupancy fluctuates.
Nut graf: Supporters said the change would help the agency diversify providers, support culturally responsive or specialized placements closer to youth’s communities, and maintain capacity for crisis responses and youth with acute mental-health needs.
OYA also asked for clearer statutory authority to make financial grants from appropriated funds to support services and providers. OYA representatives said prior statutory language limited grant authority in ways that created procurement and contract-management challenges.
Representative Mannix asked whether different contracting approaches could save money; OYA staff replied that the approaches could be more efficient in some cases and would give the agency tools to structure payments differently depending on program needs. OYA’s Katie Hudson, interim chief of operations for business services, said clarifying grant authority would allow the agency to issue grants for services that do not fit the strict fee-for-service model.
Ending: The committee closed the public hearing; OYA asked that the Legislature approve the wider contract and grant authority to better support community placements.
