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Oregon

Task Force

Oregon does not have a task force established to oversee an Olmstead plan.

Implementation

As an outgrowth of legislation enacted in 1999, the state developed a six-year plan that has as its goal the elimination of the waiting list for community-based services for people with developmental disabilities. The plan was the basis for the state's recent settlement of a lawsuit.

There are no waiting lists for services for people with physical disabilities or the frail elderly.

For senior citizens and people with physical or developmental disabilities, the state has available a broad array of community supports, including in-home care, foster care, residential programs, assisted living facilities, small group homes and employment supports. Based on this array of services, the state discourages institutional care and offers alternatives for anyone who wishes to leave an institution. Oregon's current efforts related to expansion of community-based care currently focus on people with developmental disabilities. The state has agreed to create 50 new non-crisis placements annually from FY 2001 to FY 2007 and will increase the availability of personal care and respite services. The governor proposed adding $45 million (the state's general fund share) to the budget for these services for fiscal years 2001-2003; additional requests are anticipated for fiscal years 2003-2005.

The issue of under-served populations centers on the developmental disabilities and mental health populations.

The state settled a lawsuit, Staley vs. Kitzhaber, in September 2000. This suit was filed on behalf of more than 5,000 people on a waiting list for care. As a result of the settlement, the state phases in in-home services to those individuals on the waiting list.

For an update on lawsuits in Oregon and other states, see Status Report: Litigation Concerning Medicaid Services for People with Developmental and Other Disabilities by Gary A. Smith at http://www.hsri.org/index.asp?id=news

Oregon received a CMS Systems Change Grant in the amount of just over $2 million. The money is being used to advance consumer direction through enhanced infrastructure of community services. Oregon has broken the Systems Change Grant into four initiatives:

1. Address affordable and accessible housing. Provide additional staff and services for homeless individuals and those at risk of institutionalization.
2. Provide training on ADA and Olmstead to consumers, family representatives and managers.
3. Increase affordability of personal assistance and registered nurses for individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Promote informed choice and living in most integrated settings by changing assessment tools to be more person centered.
4. Assess Oregon's and other states' Medicaid programs to develop ways to increase resources in the communities.

The task force wants to expand family and consumer-directed decisions. It primarily focused primarily on adults in state hospitals, but now is focusing more broadly across populations as a result of the Olmstead and CMS letters. Housing issues are a major focus in Oregon. A $260,000 grant is being used to assist individuals who have start-up barriers (i.e., have their own place, but are unable to pay the first month of rent because they do not yet have the housing voucher) to make the transition into the community. The funds are distributed in the form of mini-grants.

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