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Oregon Youth Authority says PSO backlog largely cleared; committee acknowledges report
Summary
The Joint Ways and Means Public Safety Subcommittee heard an Oregon Youth Authority report showing major reductions in aged and unsigned Professional Standards Office cases and moved to forward the report to the full committee for consideration.
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means, Public Safety Subcommittee met Feb. 10 and acknowledged receipt of a report from the Oregon Youth Authority’s Professional Standards Office, which the agency said shows substantial reductions in long‑standing backlogs and stronger case‑management practices.
OYA Director Mike Tessin told the subcommittee that the Professional Standards Office (PSO) had treated the legislature’s 2025 direction as an accountability assignment and reorganized investigative priorities to protect youth safety and restore public trust. "Out of the 733 aged cases identified a year ago, there are only three remaining as of this morning," Tessin said, adding that the agency shifted capacity to finalize previously "unsigned" cases once aged cases were resolved.
Tessin described unsigned cases as investigations that had been completed but not finalized by the chief investigator; he said OYA prioritized finalization because "completion isn't the finish line. Finalization is the finish line." Chief investigator Tim Thrasher told the panel that as staff cleared the backlog most cases appeared to be complete: "About 95% basically missed the final check, and about 5% is saying something could or should have been done a little bit additional — we're reopening those for further investigation," he said.
The presentation also described timeliness improvements: Tessin reported that initial responses to reports are being made in under one business day and said the average investigation length was 15.4 days. He emphasized ongoing leadership review and monthly data challenge sessions to prevent cases from drifting and to ensure accountability.
Allison Daniel of the Department of Administrative Services and the Legislative Fiscal Office recommended the committee acknowledge receipt of the report. A committee member moved to forward the request to the full committee with the LFO recommendation; the co‑chairs noted no objections and said they would take it to the full committee.
The reporting package focused on operational changes OYA said were enabled by staffing and oversight investments from the 2025 legislature and framed the results as system‑level changes rather than a temporary push. The committee closed the work session and moved on to two informational requests from OYA.
