71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 1335
 
                         Senate Bill 42
 
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
  President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
  rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
  of the President (at the request of Joint Legislative Audit
  Committee)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Directs Senior and Disabled Services Division to adopt
performance standards for area agencies on aging and to monitor
compliance with standards. Directs division to conduct annual
financial audits and periodic program reviews of area agencies.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to area agencies on aging; amending ORS 410.070.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 410.070 is amended to read:
  410.070. (1) The Senior and Disabled Services Division is
created in the Department of Human Services. The division shall
administer laws and programs relating to social, health and
protective services to elderly persons and disabled persons, and
shall promote the hiring of otherwise qualified persons who are
certifiably disabled for positions within the programs it
manages.  Family support services provided by the Senior and
Disabled Services Division shall be delivered in accordance with
the principles described in ORS 417.342 and 417.344.
  (2) The division shall:
  (a) Serve as the central state agency with primary
responsibility for the planning, coordination, development and
evaluation of policy, programs and services for elderly persons
and disabled persons in Oregon.
  (b) Function as the designated state unit on aging, as defined
in the Older Americans Act of 1965.
  (c) With the advice of the Governor's Commission on Senior
Services and the Oregon Disabilities Commission, develop
long-range state plans for programs, services and activities for
elderly persons and disabled persons. State plans should be
revised annually and should be based on area agency plans,
statewide priorities and state and federal requirements.
  (d) Have the authority to transfer state and federal funds,
except Title III of the Older Americans Act funds, from one area
agency to another area agency or from one program or service to
another program or service after consultation with the area
agencies involved in the transfer. However, no area agency shall
 
suffer a reduction in state or federal funds due to increased
local funds.
  (e) Receive and disburse all federal and state funds allocated
to the division and solicit, accept and administer grants,
including federal grants or gifts made to the division or to the
state and enter into contracts with private entities for the
purpose of providing or contracting for case management services
for long term care insurance for the benefit of elderly persons
and disabled persons in this state.
  (f) Provide technical, training and program assistance to area
agencies and assist them to provide such assistance to public and
private agencies and organizations.
  (g) Assist area agencies to stimulate more effective use of
existing resources and services for elderly persons and develop
programs, opportunities and services which are not otherwise
provided for elderly persons, with the aim of developing a
comprehensive and coordinated system for the delivery of social
services to elderly persons.
  (h) Assist local division units and area agencies which have
assumed responsibility for disabled services to stimulate more
effective use of existing resources and to develop programs,
opportunities and services which are not otherwise provided for
disabled persons, with the aim of developing a comprehensive and
coordinated system for the delivery of social services to
disabled persons.
   { +  (i) Develop and adopt performance standards for programs
operated under ORS 410.250 to 410.290 by area agencies and
annually review agency compliance with the standards.
  (j) Conduct annual financial audits of area agencies, including
an assessment of administrative and operating costs, to ensure
that state and federal resources are expended efficiently and in
compliance with state and federal laws.
  (k) Conduct periodic program reviews of area agencies,
including but not limited to a measurement of staff-to-client
ratio, staff-to-management ratio and the amount of funding from
local government sources contributed to the operation of programs
operated under ORS 410.250 to 410.290. + }
    { - (i) - }   { + (L) + } Serve within government and in the
state at large as an advocate for elderly persons and disabled
persons by holding hearings and conducting studies or
investigations concerning matters affecting the health, safety
and welfare of elderly persons and disabled persons and by
assisting elderly persons and disabled persons to assure their
rights to apply for and receive services and to be given fair
hearings when such services are denied.
    { - (j) - }   { + (m) + } Process fiscal and client data for
all area agencies.
    { - (k) - }   { + (n) + } Conduct regulatory functions with
regard to program operation, by adopting rules for providing
social services, including protective services, to elderly
persons and disabled persons who need services that the division
or area agencies are authorized to provide and rules for standard
rate setting and quality assurance.
    { - (L) - }   { + (o) + } Provide information and technical
assistance to the Governor's Commission on Senior Services, the
Oregon Disabilities Commission and the Medicaid Long Term Care
Quality and Reimbursement Advisory Council and keep the
commissions and the council continually informed of the
activities of the division.
    { - (m) - }   { + (p) + } Make recommendations for
legislative action to the Governor and to the Legislative
Assembly, after consultation with the Governor's Commission on
Senior Services, the Oregon Disabilities Commission and the
Medicaid Long Term Care Quality and Reimbursement Advisory
Council.
 
    { - (n) - }   { + (q) + } Conduct research and other
appropriate activities to determine the needs of elderly persons
and disabled persons in this state, including, but not limited
to, their needs for social and health services, and to determine
what existing services and facilities, private and public, are
available to elderly persons and disabled persons to meet those
needs.
    { - (o) - }   { + (r) + } Maintain a clearinghouse for
information related to the needs and interests of elderly persons
and disabled persons.
    { - (p) - }   { + (s) + } Provide area agencies with
assistance in applying for federal, state and private grants and
identifying new funding sources.
  (3) In addition to the requirements of subsection (2) of this
section, the division shall:
  (a) Determine type A and type B area agencies annual budget
levels for Oregon Project Independence and Title III of the Older
Americans Act expenditures.
  (b) For type B area agencies:
  (A) Determine annual budget levels for planning Title XIX
reimbursed services. In determining the budget levels, the
division shall retain contingency reserves against overruns and
transfers in use of Title XIX funds.
  (B) Provide timely management information so the area agencies
and the division's disability services units can manage Title XIX
reimbursements within budgeted levels.
  (C) Determine annual budget levels for planning and
administering programs relating to social, health, independent
living and protective services for disabled persons for the
division's disability services units and type B area agencies
which have assumed local responsibility for the programs and
clients transferred under subsection (2) of section 2, chapter
787, Oregon Laws 1989.
  (c) Make payments for services within a central processing
system for:
  (A) A type A area agency, at the request of the agency, for
Oregon Project Independence or Title III of the Older Americans
Act expenditures, or both.
  (B) A type B area agency, for Title XIX and Oregon Project
Independence expenditures, and at the request of the agency, for
Title III of the Older Americans Act expenditures.
  (d) Assume program responsibility for Title XIX programs in
areas served by type A area agencies and in areas where no area
agency is designated.
  (e) Assume planning and program responsibilities for disabled
persons in areas served by type A area agencies, in areas served
by type B agencies that serve only elderly persons and in areas
where no area agency exists.
  (4) When developing programs affecting elderly persons, the
division shall consult with the Governor's Commission on Senior
Services.
  (5) When developing programs affecting disabled persons, the
division shall consult with the Oregon Disabilities Commission.
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