Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 417 § 417.795 — Healthy Families Oregon programs; standards; coordination

Healthy Families Oregon programs; standards; coordination. (1) The Department of Early Learning and Care shall establish Healthy Families Oregon programs in all counties of this state as funding becomes available. (2) These programs shall be nonstigmatizing, voluntary and designed to achieve the appropriate early childhood benchmarks and shall: (a) Ensure that express written consent is obtained from the family prior to any release of information that is protected by federal or state law and before the family receives any services; (b) Ensure that services are voluntary and that, if a family chooses not to accept services or ends services, there are no adverse consequences for those decisions; (c) Offer a voluntary comprehensive risk assessment of all children, from zero through three years of age, and their families in coordination with statewide early learning system screening and referral efforts; (d) Ensure that the disclosure of information gathered in conjunction with the voluntary comprehensive risk assessment of children and their families is limited pursuant to ORS 417.728 (7) to the following purposes: (A) Providing services under the programs to children and families who give their express written consent; (B) Providing statistical data that are not personally identifiable; (C) Accomplishing other purposes for which the family has given express written consent; and (D) Meeting the requirements of mandatory state and federal disclosure laws; (e) Ensure that risk factors used in the risk screen are limited to those risk factors that have been shown by research to be associated with poor outcomes for children and families; (f) Identify, as early as possible, families that would benefit most from the programs; (g) Provide parenting education and support services, including but not limited to community-based home visiting services; (h) Provide other supports, including but not limited to referral to and linking of community and public services for children and families such as mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment programs that meet the standards promulgated by the Oregon Health Authority under ORS 430.357, child care, food, housing and transportation; (i) Coordinate services for children consistent with other services provided through the Oregon Early Learning System; (j) Integrate data with any common data system for early childhood programs; (k) Be included in a statewide independent evaluation to document: (A) Level of screening and assessment; (B) Incidence of child abuse and neglect; (C) Change in parenting skills; and (D) Rate of child development; (L) Be included in a statewide training program in the dynamics of the skills needed to provide early childhood services, such as assessment and home visiting; and (m) Meet statewide quality assurance and quality improvement standards. (3) The Healthy Families Oregon programs, in coordination with statewide home visiting partners, shall: (a) Identify existing services and describe and prioritize additional services necessary for a voluntary home visit system; (b) Build on existing programs; (c) Maximize the use of volunteers and other community resources that support all families; (d) Target, at a minimum, all prenatal families and families with children less than three months of age and provide services through at least the child’s third birthday; and (e) Ensure that home visiting services provided by local home visiting partners for children and pregnant women support and are coordinated with local Healthy Families Oregon programs. (4) Through a Healthy Families Oregon program, a trained home visitor shall be assigned to each family assessed as at risk that consents to receive services through the trained home visitor. The trained home visitor shall conduct home visits and assist the family in gaining access to needed services. (5) The services required by this section shall be provided by hospitals, public or private entities or organizations, or any combination thereof, capable of providing all or part of the family risk assessment and the follow-up services. In granting a contract, collaborative contracting or requests for proposals may be used and must include the most effective and consistent service delivery system. (6) The family risk assessment and follow-up services for families at risk shall be provided by trained home visitors organized in teams supervised by a manager. (7) Each Healthy Families Oregon program shall adopt disciplinary procedures for trained home visitors and other employees of the program. The procedures shall provide appropriate disciplinary actions for trained home visitors and other employees who violate federal or state law or the policies of the program. [1993 c.677 §1; 1999 c.1053 §21; 2001 c.831 §14; 2003 c.14 §209; 2005 c.271 §3; 2009 c.595 §362; 2012 c.37 §§53,95; 2013 c.624 §§32a,32b; 2013 c.728 §§5,6; 2021 c.631 §§4,54]