Chapter 271 Oregon Laws 2005

AN ACT

HB 2500

Relating to standards for state-provided substance abuse treatment programs; amending ORS 137.228, 417.728, 417.795, 420A.135, 420A.145, 420A.155 and 421.504.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 137.228 is amended to read:

137.228. (1) When a defendant is sentenced for a crime, the court may enter a finding that the defendant is an alcoholic or a drug-dependent person, as those terms are defined in ORS 430.306. The finding may be based upon any evidence before the court, including, but not limited to, the facts of the case, stipulations of the parties and the results of any evaluation conducted under ORS 137.227.

(2) When the court finds that the defendant is an alcoholic or a drug-dependent person, the court, when it sentences the defendant to a term of imprisonment, shall direct the Department of Corrections to place the defendant in an appropriate alcohol or drug treatment program, to the extent that resources are available. The alcohol or drug treatment program shall meet the standards promulgated by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 430.357.

SECTION 2. ORS 417.728 is amended to read:

417.728. (1) The State Commission on Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Employment Department and the Department of Human Services shall lead a joint effort with other state and local early childhood partners to establish the policies necessary for a voluntary statewide early childhood system that shall be incorporated into the local coordinated comprehensive plan.

(2) The voluntary statewide early childhood system shall be designed to achieve:

(a) The appropriate early childhood benchmarks jointly identified by the State Commission on Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Employment Department and the Department of Human Services, with input from early childhood partners, as the appropriate benchmarks; and

(b) Any other early childhood benchmark or intermediate outcome jointly identified by the State Commission on Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Employment Department and the Department of Human Services, with input from early childhood partners, as an appropriate benchmark or outcome.

(3) The voluntary statewide early childhood system shall include the following components:

(a) A process to identify as early as possible children and families who would benefit from early childhood services;

(b) A plan to support the identified needs of the child and family that coordinates case management personnel and the delivery of services to the child and family; and

(c) Services to support children who are zero through eight years of age and their families who give their express written consent, including:

(A) Screening, assessment and home visiting services pursuant to ORS 417.795;

(B) Specialized or targeted home visiting services;

(D) High quality child care, as defined by the Commission for Child Care;

(E) Preschool and other early education services;

(F) Health services for children and pregnant women;

(G) Mental health services;

(H) Alcohol and drug treatment programs that meet the standards promulgated by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 430.357;

(I) Developmental disability services; and

(J) Other state and local services.

(4) The State Commission on Children and Families, the Department of Education, the Employment Department and the Department of Human Services shall jointly:

(a) Consolidate administrative functions relating to the voluntary statewide early childhood system, to the extent practicable, including but not limited to training and technical assistance, planning and budgeting. This paragraph does not apply to the administrative functions of the Department of Education relating to education programs;

(b) Adopt policies to establish training and technical assistance programs to ensure that personnel have skills in appropriate areas, including screening, family assessment, competency-based home visiting skills, cultural and gender differences and other areas as needed;

(c) Identify research-based age-appropriate and culturally and gender appropriate screening and assessment tools that would be used as appropriate in programs and services of the voluntary statewide early childhood system;

(d) Develop a plan for the implementation of a common data system for voluntary early childhood programs as provided in section 7, chapter 831, Oregon Laws 2001;

(e) Coordinate existing and new early childhood programs to provide a range of community-based supports;

(f) Establish a common set of quality assurance standards to guide local implementation of all elements of the voluntary statewide early childhood system, including voluntary universal screening and assessment, home visiting, staffing, evaluation and community-based services;

(g) Ensure that all plans for voluntary early childhood services are coordinated and consistent with federal and state law, including but not limited to plans for Oregon prekindergarten programs, federal Head Start programs, early childhood special education services, early intervention services and public health services;

(h) Identify how the voluntary statewide early childhood system for children who are zero through eight years of age will link with systems of support for older children and their families;

(i) Contract for an evaluation of the outcomes of the voluntary statewide early childhood system; and

(j) During January of each odd-numbered year, report to the Governor and the Legislative Assembly on the voluntary statewide early childhood system. The report shall include the evaluation described in paragraph (i) of this subsection.

(5) The State Commission on Children and Families, the State Board of Education, the Employment Department and the Department of Human Services when adopting rules to administer voluntary early childhood programs under their individual authority shall adopt rules that are consistent with the requirements of the voluntary statewide early childhood system created under this section.

(6) Information gathered in conjunction with the voluntary comprehensive screening and assessment of children and their families may be used only for the following purposes:

(a) Providing services to children and families who give their express written consent;

(b) Providing statistical data that are not personally identifiable;

(d) Meeting the requirements of mandatory state and federal disclosure laws.

SECTION 3. ORS 417.795 is amended to read:

417.795. (1) The State Commission on Children and Families established under ORS 417.730 shall establish Healthy Start Family Support Services programs through contracts entered into by local commissions on children and families in all counties of this state as funding becomes available.

(2) These programs shall be nonstigmatizing, voluntary and designed to achieve the appropriate early childhood benchmarks and shall:

(a) Ensure that express written consent is obtained from the family prior to any release of information that is protected by federal or state law and before the family receives any services;

(b) Ensure that services are voluntary and that, if a family chooses not to accept services or ends services, there are no adverse consequences for those decisions;

(d) Ensure that the disclosure of information gathered in conjunction with the voluntary comprehensive screening and risk assessment of children and their families is limited pursuant to ORS 417.728 (6) to the following purposes:

(A) Providing services under the programs to children and families who give their express written consent;

(B) Providing statistical data that are not personally identifiable;

(D) Meeting the requirements of mandatory state and federal disclosure laws;

(e) Ensure that risk factors used in the risk assessment are limited to those risk factors that have been shown by research to be associated with poor outcomes for children and families;

(f) Identify, as early as possible, families that would benefit most from the programs;

(g) Provide parenting education and support services, including but not limited to community-based home visiting services and primary health care services;

(h) Provide other supports, including but not limited to referral to and linking of community and public services for children and families such as mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment programs that meet the standards promulgated by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 430.357, child care, food, housing and transportation;

(i) Coordinate services for children consistent with the voluntary local early childhood system plan developed pursuant to ORS 417.777;

(j) Provide follow-up services and supports from birth through five years of age;

(k) Integrate data with any common data system for early childhood programs implemented pursuant to section 7, chapter 831, Oregon Laws 2001;

(L) Be included in a statewide independent evaluation to document:

(A) Level of screening and assessment;

(B) Incidence of child abuse and neglect;

(D) Rate of child development;

(m) Be included in a statewide training program in the dynamics of the skills needed to provide early childhood services, such as assessment and home visiting; and

(n) Meet voluntary statewide and local early childhood system quality assurance and quality improvement standards.

(3) The Healthy Start Family Support Services programs, local health departments and other providers of prenatal and perinatal services in counties, as part of the voluntary local early childhood system, shall:

(a) Identify existing services and describe and prioritize additional services necessary for a voluntary home visit system;

(b) Build on existing programs;

(d) Target, at a minimum, all first birth families in the county; and

(e) Ensure that home visiting services provided by local health departments for children and pregnant women support and are coordinated with local Healthy Start Family Support Services programs.

(4) Through a Healthy Start Family Support Services program, a trained family support worker or nurse shall be assigned to each family assessed as at risk that consents to receive services through the worker or nurse. The worker or nurse shall conduct home visits and assist the family in gaining access to needed services.

(5) The services required by this section shall be provided by hospitals, public or private entities or organizations, or any combination thereof, capable of providing all or part of the family risk assessment and the follow-up services. In granting a contract, a local commission may utilize collaborative contracting or requests for proposals and shall take into consideration the most effective and consistent service delivery system.

(6) The family risk assessment and follow-up services for families at risk shall be provided by trained family support workers or nurses organized in teams supervised by a manager and including a family services coordinator who is available to consult.

(7) Each Healthy Start Family Support Services program shall adopt disciplinary procedures for family support workers, nurses and other employees of the program. The procedures shall provide appropriate disciplinary actions for family support workers, nurses and other employees who violate federal or state law or the policies of the program.

SECTION 4. ORS 420A.135 is amended to read:

420A.135. (1) The Oregon Youth Authority may establish up to five secure regional youth facilities.

(2) A secure regional youth facility shall:

(a) Provide secure incarceration;

(b) Provide education and job and life skills training including, but not limited to, anger management and self-control; and

(c) Include a drug and alcohol treatment component that meets [standards generally accepted by mental health professionals] the standards promulgated by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 430.357.

(3) The Director of the Oregon Youth Authority is solely responsible for determining which persons committed to, or placed in the custody of, the youth authority are eligible to participate in, and are accepted for placement in, a secure regional youth facility. The juvenile court may recommend to the Oregon Youth Authority that a youth offender be placed in a secure regional youth facility, but the recommendation is not binding on the youth authority.

SECTION 5. ORS 420A.145 is amended to read:

420A.145. (1) The Oregon Youth Authority may establish up to eight regional youth accountability camps.

(2) A regional youth accountability camp shall:

(a) Be based on a military basic training model that includes discipline, physical work, physical exercise and military drill;

(b) Provide for cognitive restructuring in conformance with generally accepted rehabilitative standards; and

(3) The youth authority may contract with all of the governing bodies of the counties in a region to administer cooperatively a regional youth accountability camp subject to the provisions of ORS 420.011, 420.014, 420A.108 and 420A.111 (5).

(4) The youth authority may contract with any private agency to administer a regional youth accountability camp subject to the provisions of ORS 420A.108 and 420A.111 (5).

SECTION 6. ORS 420A.155 is amended to read:

420A.155. (1) The Oregon Youth Authority may establish up to four regional residential academies.

(2) A regional residential academy shall:

(a) Provide a secure, closed residential campus;

(b) Provide year-round education, job and life skills training, vocational training and apprenticeship programs; and

(3) The youth authority may contract with all of the governing bodies of the counties in a region to administer cooperatively a regional residential academy subject to the provisions of ORS 420.011, 420.014, 420A.108 and 420A.111 (5).

(4) The youth authority may contract with any private agency to administer a regional residential academy subject to the provisions of ORS 420A.108 and 420A.111 (5).

(5) The Director of the Oregon Youth Authority is solely responsible for determining which persons committed to, or placed in the physical custody of, the youth authority are eligible to participate in, and are accepted for, a regional residential academy. The juvenile court may recommend to the Oregon Youth Authority that a youth offender be placed in a regional residential academy, but the recommendation is not binding on the youth authority.

SECTION 7. ORS 421.504 is amended to read:

421.504. (1) The Department of Corrections, in consultation with the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, shall establish a special alternative incarceration program stressing a highly structured and regimented routine. The program:

(a) Shall be based on a military basic training model that includes extensive discipline, physical work, physical exercise and military drill;

(b) Shall provide for cognitive restructuring in conformance with generally accepted rehabilitative standards;

(c) Shall include a drug and alcohol treatment component that meets [standards generally accepted by mental health professionals] the standards promulgated by the Department of Human Services pursuant to ORS 430.357; and

(d) Shall be no longer than 270 days’ duration.

(2) The department shall provide capital improvements and capital construction necessary for the implementation of the program.

Approved by the Governor June 20, 2005

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 21, 2005

Effective date January 1, 2006

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