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April 12, 2020
Dear Neighbors and Friends:
I hope that you and your loved ones are doing well, staying healthy, and looking out for your neighbors and friends.
To those who celebrate them, Happy Easter, Passover, and Ramadan. These are always times for us to remember and celebrate community, the sense of being part of something larger than ourselves, the sense of rebirth and renewal and new hope that comes at this time each year. This year, though it’s different in so many ways, I hope that you’re finding your own way to recognize and celebrate these things.
In this newsletter, along with the latest statistics, I’d like to report on a briefing that members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees received on Friday from Oregon’s Department of Corrections. You’ve probably been reading or hearing about concerns that are out there around the 14,400 Oregonians who are currently serving time in our state prisons. They are living in what must be considered the epitome of “congregate care settings,” where living in close quarters (nursing homes, group homes, assisted living, and some military settings) makes the residents particularly vulnerable to the spread of a disease like COVID-19.
And among those living in congregate care settings, the most at risk are of course the elderly and the medically vulnerable. The latest numbers here in Oregon show that nearly half of all those who have died from COVID-19 had been living in senior care settings. We have fortunately not seen any deaths yet in our prison population, but given that Oregon has among the highest proportion of older adults in custody of any state, we have good reason to be concerned.
Ironically, one of my goals for this year had been to work with some of my legislative colleagues to set up a work group on elderly adults in custody. We received a presentation on that subject from a group of AICs back in December and promised to start looking into their special needs right after the February session. I wish we could turn the clock back a year, in which case the work group could have met and made recommendations for a number of protocols that would have prepared us better for this pandemic. We may have been able to create some standing agreements and processes around early release for vulnerable elderly AICs that would have been helpful right now.
We can’t move the clock back. But we can and must learn from this experience. If we can, and if we resolve to use what we’ve learned to help us make long-term changes that improve our systems for the future, then there will be some silver lining to this difficult experience.
TODAY’S CORONAVIRUS AND CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE UPDATE
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Positive Cases: OHA has reported that 80 additional Oregonians tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, putting the total at 1,527.
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Total Tests: Today’s reported testing numbers reflect an increase of 1,120 test results from yesterday, bringing the total test results so far to 29,758.
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Ratio: Though the overall numbers are increasing, our ratio of positive results still remains right around 5%. That’s much lower than the national average (still over 19%).
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Deaths: I’m sorry to report that 1 additional Oregonian died from the disease yesterday, bringing the total number of deaths in Oregon to 52.
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Hospitalized: The number of Oregonians who have been hospitalized with symptoms, and who have also tested positive for the disease, is now at 359. This is an increase of 14 from yesterday.
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Other Hospital Information:
- Available ICU Beds: 325 (an increase of 30 from yesterday)
- Other Available Beds: 2,035(a decrease of 180 from yesterday)
- Patients Currently w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 295 (a decrease of 34 from yesterday). Of those,150 have already received a positive test back.
- ICU Patients w COVID-19 Symptoms (who may or may not have received a positive test result yet): 81 (20 fewer than yesterday)
- COVID-19 Patients Currently on Ventilators: 52 (a decrease of 2 from yesterday).
- Available Ventilators: 760(a decrease of 8 from yesterday)
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Today’s National Numbers:
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PPE:
- The Emergency Coordination Center is now posting daily shipments of PPE out to the County Emergency Centers, where they are then distributed to local hospitals and providers. You can follow these distributions here. The postings may not always be current to today, but they should be close.
Weekly Demographics by Age
Here again is a breakdown of positive test results, hospitalizations, and deaths by age. Though the numbers have of course increased, the distributions remain similar to what they were last week, though we can see a relative increase in the number of infections among those in their forties. The total number of deaths has sadly nearly doubled in the last week, from 27 to 52. The number of deaths has been lower the last two days; let’s hope that continues.
Want Your Economic Impact Payment ASAP? Don’t Wait for a Check!
Direct deposits of the $1200 per person stimulus payments are going to start this week—but only for households that have been using direct deposit for their tax refunds or social security payments. Those who normally get their refunds by check, who haven’t filed recently, or for any other reason haven’t given their bank deposit info to the IRS will be issued checks—and that’s going to take longer, in some cases much longer.
If you don't have direct deposit, paper checks will be sent out according this schedule:
- Taxpayers with income up to $10,000: April 24
- Taxpayers with income up to $20,000: May 1
- Taxpayers with income up to $40,000: May 15
- The rest of the checks will be issued by gradually increasing income increments each week.
- Households earning $198,000, with joint filing, will get their reduced checks on Sept. 4.
The good news is that the IRS has set up a way for you to contact them directly and give your bank information. You’ll be able to do that here. If you have not been filing for the last couple of years, check out the “Non-Filers: Enter Your Payment Info Here.” You can start the process of providing the necessary info immediately.
If you have been filing but have not been using direct deposit, go to “Filers: Get Your Payment.” That application form is not yet live, but it should be any day now. Keep checking back.
Again, for a nice explanation of the program, check out Congressman Blumenauer’s recent post about it here.
Update from Department of Corrections
Over the last week, we’ve heard about the first infections among the AIC population, and we’ve also hear that the Governor is mulling over proposals to provide early release for some individuals in order to reduce crowding and safeguard those most at-risk. In order get a better understanding of what’s happening, members of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees had a conference call briefing with DOC Director Colette Peters and Deputy director Heidi Steward on Friday to hear what’s being done to make things safer for adults in custody in Oregon’s prisons.
AICs and Staff Test Positive
We learned that five AICs have tested positive: 4 AICs from Santiam Correctional Institution in Salem and one from Shutter Creek Correctional Institution near Coos Bay. Both locations are minimum security facilities. The affected individuals have been sent to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, where the hospital facilities are much better equipped to deal with them.
In addition, four staff members at the Oregon State Penitentiary and three staff at Santiam have tested positive. Staff are the most likely transmitters of the disease now, since the institutions have essentially been on lockdown since March 13, with no visitors, volunteers, and almost no contractors allowed inside the institutions. Corrections Officers must have their temperatures taken each day when they enter, and are asked about their health (sore throat, aches, etc.). If they show symptoms, they will be tested.
What Steps Are Being Taken to Prevent/Contain Exposure?
I believe that they are trying very hard to keep the virus from entering and spreading. But as you can imagine, keeping six-foot distances is difficult if not impossible in a prison. In the minimum security prisons, AICs are often housed in large dorms with bunkbeds. Prior to the lockdown, some of them were away on work release, which put them out in the general public, subject to exposure. There are likely individuals inside who were exposed, either from their time outside, or when they had a court appearance, or from a corrections officer. The problem with COVID is that one can remain contagious for long periods without symptoms, and the disease may be spreading without our knowing it. Let’s hope not.
So far, the proportion of infections within our prisons is below the proportion within the general adult population. Let’s hope that continues.
Here are some of the steps that DOC is taking to keep it contained:
- They are trying to modify all line movements so that six-foot minimum separations are maintained.
- Chapel services are continuing, but seating is spread out.
- Same for food service.
- Prison residential units are kept separate, so that if the virus appears, it can be contained within a unit. Units eat separately and recreate separately. AICs from separate units are not able to take classes together.
- Dining is being spread out throughout the day, so that units can eat separately and space can be opened up. The goal is to feed one unit at time and sanitize in between.
- The number of AICs in day rooms at any one time are being kept limited so that they can spread out.
- Outdoor yards remain open, but group activities like basketball are suspended for now. Access to indoor gyms is suspended for now.
- Office/administrative personnel are working from home.
- Now that Oregon Corrections Enterprises is producing large volumes of masks (see below), all AICs at Santiam and OSP have been offered masks. So will the AICs at Coffee Creek and other institutions.
- AICs should have access to soap and water whenever they want it and are encouraged to use it.
- AICs who have been away from the institution for some reason (e.g., a court date) is put under medical observation for 14 days (generally the incubation period for the virus).
- Transfers between institutions have been minimized.
- Those coming into prisons from jails go through medical screenings, though they are not yet being routinely tested.
- If someone shows flu-like symptoms, they will be tested. The system has an adequate supply of tests to do that.
- The Department knows which AICs are at particular risk of harm from the disease as a result of their age and underlying medical conditions. According to Director Peters and Deputy Director Steward, they are trying to keep those considered vulnerable away from others for now and under close medical observation.
Oregon Corrections Enterprises Work Continues
As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, AIC workers have begun to produce cotton cloth utility masks for AICs and DOC staff. Once everyone who wants one has at least two, they will then produce masks for the Oregon Youth Authority and then for DHS employees and homecare workers. They are now turning out 4,600 masks a day, hoping to get to ten thousand a day. They are also hoping to be able to create medical-grade masks and gowns. However, they still have a couple of barriers to overcome: difficulty sourcing medical-grade materials (another national problem) and lack of clarity from the FDA for its certification process.
You may not know that OCE workers at OSP in Salem and at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla also provide laundry service for many of the big hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. This is extremely important work, and potentially very dangerous. To do this work, AICs need access to Personal Protective Equipment (masks, gowns, eye protection, and sanitation products). Right now, they have a six-week supply of PPE, which will hopefully suffice. DOC is working with the Emergency Coordination Center to make sure they have an adequate supply because if they don’t, they will be required to cease doing this work.
Some of the Downsides
It is obviously very stressful for AICs to be in this lockdown situation. Not only do they have to worry about their own health, but they are worried about what’s potentially happening to their loved ones on the outside. They can’t be visited by friends and family for now, so like the rest of us they’re having to rely on “virtual” modes of communication.
AICs do have access to phone calls, video calls, emails, and text messages. DOC has worked out an arrangement with their telecommunications providers to offer each AIC two free 5-minute phone/video calls a week. On Friday that agreement was extended for an additional 30 days. The institutions have seen a 20% increase in telecommunication contacts since the beginning of the lockdown.
Another result of the lockdown has been suspension of much of the education, mental/behavioral health, group work, and other programs. They are an important part of an AICs pathway to release. DOC leadership promises that no one will be penalized for not doing the programming that is expected of them, but I have heard that there is a lot of concern among AICs about what the suspension of these programs will mean for them in the long run.
Early Release?
One of the strategies to make the prisons safer would be to reduce the prison population to allow for more spreading of the population. Legislators and the Governor have received many requests from constituents, including from relatives of AICs who fear for the safety of their loved ones, to see this happen.
The Governor has asked DOC to do a demographic analysis of the prison population, identifying
- those most deemed medically vulnerable
- those older than 60, the age deemed particularly vulnerable to COVID
- those with less than 6 months remaining on their sentences
- those with less than 12 months remaining on their sentences
DOC has completed this analysis, looking particularly at those who fall into multiple categories. They are now working with local community corrections, reentry services, and a legal team to get a better sense of what services would be available for individuals who might be released and what the legal options for release are.
I suspect that we will not be seeing a wholesale release of prisoners anytime soon, but we may well see some selective releases of individuals who are at risk, who are close to their release dates, who have homes to go to, who have access to good medical care, and whose offenses were non-violent.
It’s not clear what capacity local parole/probation offices have right now to take on many new cases, given the restrictions of social distancing. There may be creative online solutions for the need to provide the necessary post-release oversight, but it will likely take time to put in place, and likely won’t be possible everywhere. I believe that conversations are happening with people who do reentry work in various parts of the state to see what’s possible.
We should hear more this week.
If You’d Like More Information:
The Department of Corrections has a COVID-19 website. If you have a question about any of the steps that DOC is taking to address the crisis, or want to send them your thoughts, DOC has set up an email address for that purpose: OC.COVID19Response@doc.state.or.us.
AND FINALLY,
Here again are some resources that you will find useful:
If the above links are not providing you with answers to your questions or directing you to the help that you need, please consider me and my office to be a resource. We’ll do our best to assist you or steer you in the right direction.
Best,
AND FINALLY,
Here again are some resources that you will find useful:
If the above links are not providing you with answers to your questions or directing you to the help that you need, please consider me and my office to be a resource. We’ll do our best to assist you or steer you in the right direction.
Best,
 Senator Michael Dembrow
District 23
email: Sen.MichaelDembrow@oregonlegislature.gov
web: www.senatordembrow.com
phone: 503-986-1723
mail: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
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