Joint Press Release
December 17, 2021
Media Contacts: Aria Seligmann, Oregon Health Authority, ari.l.seligmann@dhsoha.state.or.us, 503-910-9239
Tina Pinedo, Disability Rights Oregon, tpinedo@droregon.org, 503-444-0026
On Friday, December 10, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) entered into an interim settlement agreement with Metropolitan Public Defender and Disability Rights Oregon to address the Oregon State Hospital’s (OSH) current capacity challenges regarding the admission of patients who need competency restoration (commonly referred to as .370 patients or people under Aid and Assist orders) and patients under Guilty Except for Insanity commitments.
The interim agreement requires the state to contract with a mutually agreed upon outside expert to address capacity issues at OSH in compliance with the federal Mink Order, which states that the Oregon State Hospital must admit people under Aid and Assist orders within seven days.
The agreement plan stipulates, in part:
- Oregon Health Authority will hold the contract with the expert.
- The parties agree to request a deadline of January 31, 2022, for the expert to file their initial report and recommendations with the court to address a short-term compliance plan and global state hospital admissions protocol.
- Once completed, the expert’s reports will be submitted to both sides in the lawsuits and will be available to the public. Following each report, the parties will discuss a further settlement in light of the expert’s recommendations.
The parties agreed to request a deadline of April 29, 2022, for the expert to file their report and recommendations regarding a proposed long-term compliance plan and to participate in a renewed settlement conference with Judge Beckerman on May 4, 2022, to resolve any disputes relating to the report and recommendations. If the parties reach agreement on a long-term compliance plan, OHA will act to implement the agreed upon plan and will report progress in their monthly reports to the expert.
Plaintiffs in the Mink and Bowman cases agree not to initiate contempt proceedings nor request temporary injunctive relief pending the court's resolution of the expert’s April 29, 2022, report and recommendations, unless they believe that OHA is not acting in good faith or is not complying with the interim agreement. (The Bowman case concerns state hospital admissions for persons found Guilty Except for Insanity.) If plaintiffs intend to initiate contempt proceedings or request temporary injunctive relief during this interim time period, they will first attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation with Judge Beckerman.
Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said, “I’m encouraged by this agreement and I appreciate the opportunity to work with DRO to get more people into the state hospital sooner so they can get the care they need. We all want to decriminalize mental illness in Oregon and give people who are seriously mentally ill treatment in a hospital bed, not confinement in a jail cell if they haven’t committed a serious crime. The Oregon State Hospital can’t solve its capacity crisis alone. This agreement will help us find more sustainable solutions.”
“People with mental illness should not be sitting in jail, waiting to receive the treatment to which they are entitled. This agreement represents a first step in making good on our society's obligations to treat rather than punish mental illness,” said Emily Cooper, Legal Director of Disability Rights Oregon.
“This agreement represents progress and the furtherance of MPD's goal of ensuring their clients don't languish in jail for court ordered services,” added Jesse Merrithew of Levi Merrithew Horst representing Metropolitan Public Defender.
Resources
Disability Rights Oregon Case Page: Oregon Advocacy Center v. Mink
Oregon State Hospital Patient Handbook: Aid and Assist
About Disability Rights Oregon
Disability Rights Oregon upholds the civil rights of people with disabilities to live, work, and engage in the community. The nonprofit works to transform systems, policies, and practices to give more people the opportunity to reach their full potential. For more than 40 years, the organization has served as Oregon’s Protection & Advocacy system.
About Metropolitan Public Defender
MPD has been on the cutting edge of public defense since its inception in 1971, with the goal of providing quality legal representation for people living in poverty. Formed as a non-profit law firm, it contracts with the State of Oregon for indigent defense services. MPD was the first public defender organization under this system. In Multnomah County, it was formative in creating one of the first drug courts in the nation and had some of the first alternative sentencing advocates in the nation.
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