Chapter 293 Oregon Laws 2011

AN ACT

HB 2856

Relating to regulatory requirements for human services providers; and declaring an emergency.

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

SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, “human services provider” means a person that receives reimbursement from the Department of Human Services for providing services to clients of the department and that:

(a) The department is authorized to require to undergo financial reporting such as an audit; or

(b) Is required to report information to the department in a form or manner prescribed by the department.

(2) The department shall coordinate with other state agencies and local governments to find ways to reduce administrative and resource burdens on human services providers, including, but not limited to, implementing:

(a) Uniform processes for financial, compliance and other types of audits for human services providers that include protocols for periodic abbreviated audits and less frequent full audits;

(b) Uniform reporting forms for human services providers to report required information to all state and local entities that regulate the providers; and

(c) A process through which the department, state agencies and local governments share information that is reported to any of them by human services providers in order to avoid the imposition of duplicative reporting requirements on the providers.

(3) The department shall evaluate the success of the processes and forms implemented under subsection (2) of this section in reducing the administrative and resource burdens on human services providers and shall report the results of the evaluation to the Seventy-seventh Legislative Assembly in the manner provided in ORS 192.245.

(4) The department shall appoint a work group that shall use a continuous improvement or similar process to review state reporting requirements that duplicate or exceed federal requirements, to identify state reporting requirements that are unnecessary and do not produce additional valuable information and to recommend to the department changes to the department’s administrative rules or to the Legislative Assembly changes to statutes to eliminate the duplicate or unnecessary requirements.

(5) The department may implement any of the changes to administrative rules that are authorized by state or federal law that are recommended by the work group under subsection (4) of this section.

SECTION 2. This 2011 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2011 Act takes effect on its passage.

Approved by the Governor June 9, 2011

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 9, 2011

Effective date June 9, 2011

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