NORTH COAST
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015
3A
Brown declines to take position State slow to take action against
µÀagged¶ child service Sroviders
on accepting Syrian refugees
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — Gov. Kate
Brown has rejected calls by
Republicans to take a po-
sition on whether Oregon
should accept more refugees
after reports that at least one
of the suspects in the Paris
attacks carried a Syrian pass-
port.
“The governor’s response
stands,” said Melissa Navas,
a spokeswoman for Brown.
“I can’t tell you what will
happen tomorrow or a week
from now.”
Several Republican gov-
ernors have declared they
will block more Syrian ref-
ugees from settling in their
states following the Paris
attacks, though federal law
suggests they have no power
to do so.
States have no authority
to reject Syrian refugees or
to act independently in any
way concerning the handling
of the Syrian refugee crisis,
according to the Oregon De-
partment of Human Services.
“It’s kind of easy to pick,
but it doesn’t seem anyone is
paying attention to the big-
ger issue on whether gover-
nors can close their states to
refugees, if that can actually
happen,” Navas said of me-
dia coverage on Republican
governors who say they are
refusing more refugees.
Congress and the presi-
dent set policy on accepting
children’s service provider has
Lawyers for the state are re-
been on the “RADAR list” more viewing whether the Department
than 30 of the last 36 months. of Human Services can release
SALEM — Oregon law- DHS appears to have used the WKHQDPHRIWKDWXQLGHQWL¿HGSUR-
makers learned Monday that “RADAR list” as an informa- vider and other information from
a state-licensed child services tional tool to alert top adminis- the list, said department spokes-
SURYLGHU KDG EHHQ ÀDJJHG IRU trators to problems and potential woman Andrea Cantu-Schomus.
problems 30 out of the last 36 media or political attention at The EO Media Group/Pamplin
months, even more frequently DHS-licensed facilities.
Media Group Capital Bureau
than the Portland foster care pro-
The agency has not sus- DQGRWKHUQHZVRXWOHWVKDYH¿OHG
gram Give Us This Day, which pended, revoked or even denied public records requests for the
was the focus of a series of the renewal of licenses for any list or information on it.
stories by the Willamette Week problematic service providers
No sense of urgency
newspaper about a range of during the last 36 months.
Lois Day, the state’s child
problems, from misuse of funds
It’s unclear from the agen-
to child neglect.
cy’s response to Gelser why the welfare director, said during a
According to testimony unnamed provider remained on meeting of the Senate Interim
0RQGD\ EHLQJ ÀDJJHG E\ WKH the list so many months, but the Committee On Human Services
agency didn’t necessarily lead to criteria to get on the list include and Early Childhood Monday
any action being taken.
“high severity or high quantity that in retrospect, it is clear the
Willamette Week’s cover- of allegations,” a state licensing agency has more information
age, which prompted multiple action such as suspension, politi- about foster care facilities than
legislative hearings, revealed cal implications, potential media RI¿FLDOVPLJKWKDYHUHDOL]HG$W
that top Department of Human attention and “chronic non-com- the same time, the RADAR list,
Services administrators ignored pliance or ‘yo-yo’ compliance.” one of the key information sourc-
reports of problems at the pro-
The list covers all facilities es they did have, did not inspire
gram. The latest hearing was at the Department of Human Ser- a sense of urgency for the agency
the Senate Interim Committee vices licenses, including assisted to stop placing children with the
On Human Services and Early living facilities and therapeutic most problematic providers.
Day and other Department of
Childhood, which met Monday boarding schools, and state li-
to discuss potential legislation censing staff email the list on Human Services administrators
next year and other actions to a monthly basis to the agency described a decentralized child
address problems in the state’s director, deputy directors, pro- welfare system, in which licens-
foster care system.
gram director, communications ing, inspection, contracting and
director, the director of the Of- compliance workers aren’t nec-
On the radar
¿FHRI$GXOW$EXVH3UHYHQWLRQ essarily communicating or even
Give Us This Day showed and Investigation, the long-term looking at the same information
up on the Department of Human care ombudsman and the Legis- about the programs caring for
kids.
Services’ “RADAR list” for 26 ODWLYH2I¿FH
of the last 36 months, according
to information the agency pro-
vided in response to questions
from state Sen. Sara Gelser,
D-Corvallis.
Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
%XW DQRWKHU XQLGHQWL¿HG
N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
Gov. Kate Brown
refugees. President Barack
Obama recently announced
the United States would ac-
cept 10,000 Syrian refugees,
a small fraction compared
to some other countries. So
far, only one Syrian refugee
has settled in Oregon, a De-
partment of Human Services
spokesman said.
Refugees may ask to set-
tle in a particular state where
they have social connections,
or national volunteer agen-
cies might settle refugees
based on resources available
in different regions, accord-
ing to the state.
7KH862I¿FHRQ5HIX-
gee Resettlement did not im-
mediately return a call from
the EO Media Group/Pam-
plin Media Group seeking
information on gubernatorial
authority over refugee reset-
tlement.
State Rep. Bill Post,
R-Keizer, wrote to Brown
Monday to ask the governor
whether the state plans to ac-
cept more Syrian refugees.
“I strongly believe that
$PHULFD DQG VSHFL¿FDOO\
Oregon, should always be a
place where those seeking
relief from religious perse-
cution may come and build
a new safer life,” Post wrote.
“At the same time, I am very
concerned that if we take any
and every refugee, we may
expose Oregonians to acts of
terrorism like Paris experi-
enced last Friday.”
The Department of Hu-
man Services gives refugees
up to eight months of cash
assistance and employment
services. The agency tracks
only refugees participating
in the short-term refugee
program.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
W A NTED
City moves forward on Neighborhood Greenway
City Council
also postpones
hearing on
appeal of
Verizon
monopole
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria City Council
Monday night gave initial ap-
proval to the Neighborhood
Greenway phase of the city’s
Riverfront Vision Plan.
Neighborhood Greenway,
which covers the Alderbrook
neighborhood on the city’s
east side, would further re-
strict new development along
the Columbia River.
The zoning along the river
would change from aquatic
conservation to aquatic nat-
ural, which basically limits
new structures to piers and
docks.
On land, new design
guidelines would be imposed
on multifamily and commer-
cial projects such as apart-
ments or day care centers.
Neighborhood
Green-
way would recognize the
traffic concerns raised by
Alderbrook residents and
envision that the Astoria
Riverfront Trolley might
eventually extend into the
neighborhood.
Alderbrook residents had
told the city they wanted min-
imal land-use changes in their
community.
The City Council is ex-
SHFWHG WR JLYH ¿QDO DSSURYDO
to the Neighborhood Green-
way phase in December.
The council has already
adopted the Civic Greenway
and Bridge Vista phases of the
Riverfront Vision Plan, which
is designed to set land-use
guidelines along the river. The
Urban Core leg downtown is
the last remaining section.
In other business Monday
night, the City Council:
• Postponed a hearing on
an appeal against a new Ver-
izon Wireless monopole in
Shively Park.
Ron Zilli, a forester, has
challenged the 150-foot-tall
tower as incompatible with the
historic park. He has warned
the city that the monopole will
be more visible above the tree
line than Verizon has indicated.
The monopole is part of an
agreement between the city
and Verizon to move an ag-
ing communications tower off
Coxcomb Hill and away from
the Astoria Column.
The agreement includes a
new tower the city and Veri-
zon will share off Reservoir
Road as well as the new Veri-
zon monopole at Shively Park
and equipment atop the Astor
Building.
Verizon asked to postpone
the hearing, which is now
scheduled for early January.
• Announced, through City
Councilor Cindy Price, a ded-
ication for the new Irving Av-
enue Bridge near 19th Street.
The event is at 11 a.m. Thurs-
day at the new $5.8 million
bridge.
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
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