(1) Subject to ORS § 418.322, the Department of Human Services may place a child in an out-of-state child-caring agency only if:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(a) The out-of-state child-caring agency is licensed to provide or engage in the provision of care or services by the department under ORS § 418.205 to 418.327 and complies with the licensing requirements under ORS § 418.215;

(b) The department has a current contract with the child-caring agency; and

(c) The department’s contract with the child-caring agency meets the criteria under subsection (3) of this section.

(2)(a) The department shall license an out-of-state child-caring agency pursuant to the same licensure requirements the department would impose if the out-of-state child-caring agency was located in this state.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of Article V of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children and ORS § 417.230, the department may not delegate the department’s licensing, visitation, inspection, investigation or supervision of an out-of-state child-caring agency licensed by the department to provide care or services to an Oregon child.

(3)(a) The department shall review the department’s contract with an out-of-state child-caring agency prior to placing a child with the child-caring agency.

(b) The contract must, at a minimum, meet the following criteria:

(A) At the time the contract is executed, the child-caring agency must provide the department with a current list of every entity for which the child-caring agency is providing placement services.

(B) No later than 15 days after accepting placement of a child from a new entity, the child-caring agency must notify the department in writing of the child-caring agency’s association with the new entity. The notice must include the name and contact information of the new entity and the name and contact information of an individual associated with the new entity.

(C) The child-caring agency must make mandatory reports of child abuse, as defined in ORS § 418.257 and 419B.005, involving Oregon children both to the centralized child abuse reporting system described in ORS § 418.190 and as required under the laws of the state in which the child-caring agency is located.

(D) The child-caring agency must allow the department full access to the child-caring agency’s facilities, residents, records and personnel as necessary for the department to conduct child abuse investigations and licensing activities or investigations.

(E) The child-caring agency must notify the department in writing no later than three business days after any state determines that an allegation of child abuse or a license violation involving the child-caring agency is founded, regardless of whether the child abuse or violation involves an Oregon child.

(F) The child-caring agency must notify the department in writing no later than three business days after the child-caring agency receives notice from any other state imposing a restriction on placement of children with the child-caring agency, suspending or revoking the child-caring agency’s license with that state or indicating the state’s intent to suspend or revoke the child-caring agency’s license with that state.

(G) The child-caring agency must notify the department immediately, verbally and in writing:

(i) Any time a child from any state who is in the care of the child-caring agency dies, is sexually assaulted or suffers serious physical injury; or

(ii) When the child-caring agency becomes aware of any criminal investigation, arrest or criminal charges involving an agency staff member if the alleged offense involved a child or could have reasonably posed a risk to the health, safety or welfare of a child.

(H) Except with respect to protected information described in ORS § 418.256 (5), the child-caring agency may not ask or require an employee or volunteer to sign a nondisclosure or other agreement prohibiting the employee or volunteer from the good faith disclosure of information concerning the abuse or mistreatment of a child who is in the care of the child-caring agency, violations of licensing or certification requirements, criminal activity at the child-caring agency, violations of state or federal laws or any practice that threatens the health and safety of a child in the care of the child-caring agency.

(I) The child-caring agency must ensure staffing ratio and staff training and education requirements that meet, at a minimum, the standards set by the department by rule for intensive behavioral support services.

(J) The child-caring agency must meet all of the program, discipline, behavior support, supervision and child rights requirements adopted by the department by rule for behavioral rehabilitation services provided in this state.

(K) The child-caring agency may not practice conversion therapy, as defined in ORS § 675.850.

(L) The child-caring agency must identify a child by the child’s preferred name and pronouns and may not implement a dress code that prohibits or requires clothing on the basis of biological sex.

(M) Genetic testing, including testing for psychopharmacological purposes, must be approved by a court and may not be included as a standing order for a child in care.

(N) Neither the child-caring agency nor its contractors or volunteers may use chemical or mechanical restraints on a child, including during secure transport.

(O) The child-caring agency must ensure that the use of any psychotropic medications for a child placed with the child-caring agency by the department is in compliance with ORS § 418.517 and any rules regarding psychotropic medications adopted by the department.

(4) The department shall develop rules outlining a process for review of the out-of-state placement of a child who is identified as a child with an intellectual or developmental disability or who is suspected of having an intellectual or developmental disability. At a minimum, the rules must:

(a) Identify a process for expediting review of the child’s eligibility for developmental disability services.

(b) Require that a multidisciplinary review team, including administrators in the developmental disability services program, review the placement before the child is placed out-of-state.

(c) Require that a multidisciplinary team, including administrators in the developmental disability services program, monitor the progress of the child in the out-of-state placement.

(d) Require that contracts for placement of the child ensure that the child has the same rights and protections that the child would have if the child was placed in this state.

(5)(a) A department child welfare services employee must accompany a child who is placed in an out-of-state child-caring agency any time the child is transported to an initial out-of-state placement, any time the child is moved to a new placement and any time the child is moved by secure transport.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if a child placed in an out-of-state child-caring agency requires secure transport from the out-of-state placement due to an emergency, a department child welfare services employee is not required to accompany the child if the time it would take for the employee to travel to the child’s out-of-state location would pose a risk to the health, safety or welfare of the child. If a department child welfare services employee does not accompany a child transported to an alternate out-of-state placement, as provided in this paragraph, the child welfare services employee must immediately travel to meet the child at the new out-of-state facility.

(6)(a) As used in this subsection, ‘juvenile offender’ means a person under 18 years of age who has or is alleged to have committed an act that is a violation, or, if done by an adult, would constitute a violation, of a law or ordinance of the United States or a county or city in this state.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, the department may not place a child in an out-of-state child-caring agency if the child-caring agency provides care to juvenile offenders.

(c) The department may place a child in an out-of-state child-caring agency that provides care to juvenile offenders if:

(A) The child-caring agency is a qualified residential treatment program licensed by the department;

(B) The child-caring agency maintains site-specific accreditation from a nationally recognized organization;

(C) The child being placed is a juvenile offender; and

(D) Prior to the hearing to approve the placement, the court and all parties to the dependency case have been informed of the nature of the services offered by the program and of the population served by the program, and the court, having considered the nature of the services and composition of the facility population and the report of the qualified individual, has found that placement in the facility is the least restrictive setting available to appropriately meet the child’s treatment needs. [2020 s.s.1 c.19 § 7a; 2020 s.s.1 c.19 § 7b; 2021 c.387 § 2; 2023 c.132 § 4]