Advocacy
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 going on in Oregon’s legislative process. For example, you can view a calendar of events on the pgage, and access each...
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 process. The COVID-19 Vaccines are here and Oregon gets more doses each day. Oregon has a plan that says who can get the COVID-19...
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 released a proposal of reduction options this week. So, let’s set our tired aside for a moment, and review the facts, and what to...
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 figure out how to address it is at the core of what we do. We solve it through listening, identifying resources, and tapping anyone and...
Read MoreCheck-In: The Oregon Needs Assessment and Service Hours
As you have heard from us before, the Oregon Needs Assessment (ONA) is currently being rolled out across the service system. By now, you should have received an ONA assessment from one of the new ONA Assessors located in case management agencies across Oregon. As a part of that process, you were probably told that the assessment is not yet tied to the allocation of services, which still happens through other means. But, when will that change, and what will the impact be on your services? Read on for an update on everything we know, to date. If you qualify for Developmental Disabilities Services, there was likely a time in which you heard about services that might be...
Read More2019 Legislative Session Ends
The 2019 Oregon Legislative formally adjourned yesterday, in what is called Sine Die. As many have probably followed in the news, the Republican Senators who walked out of session for several days in June returned to work this weekend. Though the environment was rife with unresolved conflict, both chambers put their heads down and passed the agency budget bills and a select few others. SB 274, which would have opened case management services through a Brokerage as an option for people age 14-17, was not on the “select few” list. SB 274 received unanimous support from the policy committee it worked through, and broad support from the Ways and Means committees to which it...
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