Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Foster Care Licensing And Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oregon DHS seeks to recenter foster‑care licensing in ODDS, requests funds to shore up oversight
Summary
The Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Disability Services asked the Legislature to move foster‑care licensing back to the state office, fund permanent licensing staff and add auditors, saying current decentralized oversight has created inconsistent enforcement and growing safety concerns.
The Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee heard April 1 that the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Office of Developmental Disability Services (ODDS) wants foster‑care licensing and certification returned to the state office and funded to preserve oversight.
Dana Hittle, interim director of ODDS, told the committee the governor’s recommended budget for Senate Bill 55 26 includes a request to “bring foster care licensing back to our state office to ODDS from our community developmental disabilities programs.” Hittle said the move would allow ODDS to “monitor more directly the quality of services and ensure consistent application of requirements and oversight.”
Hittle said licensing and certification for both adult and children’s DD foster homes are currently completed by community developmental disability programs (CDDPs). ODDS contends that decentralizing the function has produced inconsistent application of rules and, in some cases, insufficient documentation to support corrective actions. “With licensing and certification done by the CDDPs, there's a concern that providers are not cited for areas of noncompliance due to concerns that may impact the relationship between the licensor and the provider, at the local level,” Hittle said.
Nut graf: ODDS proposed a general fund package to recenter licensing and keep oversight capacity. The package includes funding to restore positions and add auditors; proponents say it will improve consistency and speed complaint reviews, while opponents and committee members pressed for details on enforcement and timelines.
According to ODDS, the governor’s recommended budget would carry a general fund impact of $2,329,939 to move 20 positions and 15 full‑time equivalents back to the state. Hittle said the department already has dedicated staff “who know the licensing and certification work from beginning to end” and that recentering would let the licensing office work more closely with ODDS policy staff.
The presentation linked the request to an observed increase in severe health and safety events and to concerns about provider entities shifting rapidly toward 24‑hour residential provider models. Hittle said returning licensing to ODDS would reduce potential conflicts inherent in a locally based licensing model and allow complaint reviews to be focused and completed more quickly.
Committee members pressed for examples and for details about enforcement. Senator Gelser Bloon raised concerns about providers advertising noncompliant practices and asked what the department would do to stop such conduct; Hittle said the department is taking action but is limited by the need to follow Oregon administrative rules and provide due process.
Ending: The request to recenter licensing is packaged inside Senate Bill 55 26 as an informational budget item. ODDS officials asked the subcommittee to approve funding that would keep current licensing capacity and add auditing capability; more detailed follow‑up materials and written responses were promised to committee members after the hearing.
