Blog & News
New Tools and Guidance On Remote Legislative Engagement from OLIS
January 11th, 2021 marks the first official day of the 2021 Oregon Legislative Session. Though bills are being released for review and other familiar processes are moving forward, this is not business-as-usual. The 2021 Session will take place in a mostly virtual fashion–there will be little human presence in the state capitol building, and legislative activities from committee hearings to lobbying will take place remotely. The Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) has long been an excellent resource to find out what’s...
read moreWhat You Need To Know Now That People 16+ with IDD, Their Families, and Support Workers Are Eligible For the COVID Vaccine
People with Developmental Disabilities, their families, and all direct support workers (PSWs, DSPs, and unpaid supports) are now eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine! COVID vaccines have been tested and proven effective and are arriving now in Oregon. We all have questions about how vaccines will get to all the people who need them. We gathered some information to share about the unfolding COVID-19 vaccination process. Our goal is to provide people with the most accurate information so that they can be healthy, safe and informed about the...
read moreAn Introduction to the COVID-19 Vaccine
COVID-19 rages on in Oregon and across the nation. We are all tired of being careful, having to think and rethink every basic routine. Adapting to new realities and understanding of how we stand to contract and spread this disease. Please, give yourself a pat on the back for how compliant and diligent you have been. But keep in mind that our risk of overrunning our hospitals, killing our front-line medical workers, and harming the people we love is as high as it has ever been. The same protective measures we are all so familiar with are still...
read moreTesting, Vaccines, and Risk Levels: The Latest on COVID-19 In Oregon
Winter is fast approaching, and we find ourselves in the middle of a very nasty spike in COVID-19 infection, statewide. This poses a deadly risk to every Oregonian–but not all risk is equal. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our state leadership and public health officials have been working to adapt our guidance to incorporate new information and understanding of how this disease spreads. With this spike, the Governor and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) have created new guidance that takes into consideration the risk levels present in...
read moreQ&A with OHA: Oregon’s Public Health Conversation
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) has been spearheading dozens of efforts to quell the COVID-19 pandemic–massive data collection, testing expansion, policy changes, guidance development, standing up the field of contact tracing, research into emerging medical evidence from here and around the world, and so much more. In addition to that work, they have created regular ways to communicate this work with various communities in Oregon. As part of the community service array in Oregon, OSSA has been joining the weekly Community Partner...
read moreFinding the Path Forward
Our society is currently consumed with finding a way back to “normal” after months of staying home. But what of the other part of that line–staying safe? We have succeeded in “flattening the curve” here in Oregon, meaning that we have slowed this disease from tearing through our population at the deadly pace at which it began. But we have done so at great cost, through the extraordinary measures of closing down businesses, schools, recreation, and non-essential medical care. How do we keep from undoing all of our...
read moreThe COVID-19 Impact on Oregon’s Budget
We are all tired. Tired from worrying about how we’ll meet our needs without work or support. Tired from caring for our families and keeping them well and safe. Tired from adjusting, constantly, to our changing world. And the last thing we all want to talk about right now are budget reductions. That is true for our government officials, our state agency leadership, and each and every person attached to social services in Oregon. But, this is where we are–the Office of Developmental Disabilities, at the request of the Governor’s Office, has...
read moreSocial and Emotional Wellness While Staying Home
Oregonians all across the state have worked hard to keep up with the changing rules and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. It asks of us a near-constant recalculation that is exhausting: is it okay for me to engage in this action? How can I get this need met safely? Am I doing everything I can do for the people who matter to me? What can I do now to prepare for what’s next? Our logical brains are overloaded, and our emotions are all over the place, as we grieve habits and people lost to us, and worry about the world around us. How do...
read moreCOVID-19 and Oregon’s Brokerage Community
Oregonians are all working incredibly hard to keep up with the changing rules and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. For our social service entities, this has meant delaying long-term projects and other critical work in order to pick up the work of sharing goods, resources, and information with their communities. Health and safety in the time of COVID-19 is an ever-changing effort. It requires an immense amount of extra work, communication, and personal connection with people, even as in-person contact is limited. To hear a problem and...
read moreResource Round-Up: Economic Impact (COVID-19 Stimulus) Payments
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has our entire society sprinting to keep up with new realities, and taking action to respond and manage the impact. Our Oregon IDD advocacy community has been working to keep abreast of that information flow, and share it with people in the ways that they need. The federal Economic Impact Payments are the stimulus funds coming to most Americans to help mitigate the personal financial impact of COVID-19’s protective measures. For members of our community, this is good news, quickly followed by a host of...
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