June 26, 2019
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
M ETRO
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page 6
Mary Holden Ayala, 59, stole $1 million from a foster home agency serving the black community from
a residential property on Northeast Rodney Avenue. Friday she was sentenced to prison and ordered
to pay back the money. The house has since been purchased by the neighborhood to keep it from
being demolished.
Foster Mom Sentenced
She stole $1
million from
agency serving
black kids
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Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
pages 5-8
Mary Holden Ayala, 59, of
Portland, was sentenced Friday to
33 months in federal prison and
three years’ supervised release
for stealing over $1 million from
a foster care agency serving the
black community where kids un-
der her care suffered from a lack
of food and other neglect.
Ayala, the former president, ex-
ecutive director and primary agent
for Give Us This Day, a private
foster care agency and residential
program for youth, was convicted
in February after a trial before a
federal jury in Portland. She was
also found guilty of money laun-
dering and filing false personal
income tax returns.
“Mary Holden Ayala was re-
sponsible for protecting and car-
ing for children in Oregon’s foster
care system. Instead she callous-
ly stole from them,” said Billy
J. Williams, U.S. Attorney for
the District of Oregon. “Stealing
from vulnerable children she was
entrusted to serve with taxpay-
er money is a despicable act and
warrants severe consequences.”
The stolen monies were intend-
ed to provide support for juvenile
foster kids entrusted in her care,
but instead she spent the funds
selfishly on a luxurious lifestyle,
and then hid her personal use of
the funds by filing false tax re-
turns, said IRS Criminal Investi-
gation Special Agent in Charge
Justin Campbell.
According to court documents,
since its inception in 1979, Give
Us This Day was primarily fund-
ed by the Oregon state and federal
government for foster care ser-
vices including hiring and screen-
ing foster parents for community
placements, compensating foster
parents for services and placing
foster children in residential or
group homes.
Prosecutors said from 2009
through 2015, Ayala exercised
sole and complete control over
the foster agency’s finances and
withdrew cash at will, using the
organization’s bank accounts as
her own.
The stolen money was used
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Police Enlarge Hiring Window
Will now accept
applicants
without degrees
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
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Portland Police Chief Danielle
Outlaw has changed the bureau’s
hiring criteria to lower some stan-
dards, including college degrees, to
enlarge the pool of applicants and
make some progress on what the
officials call a critical staffing short-
age.
The Portland Police Bureau cur-
rently has 128 officer vacancies,
with a large number of additional Chief Daniel Outlaw
projected retirements in 2020, of-
ficials said. The changes to hiring officers and continues to review and
practices is taking place as the bu- refine its process.
Beginning July 1, Portland po-
reau is actively recruiting and hiring
lice will align with Oregon state
law enforcement standards for cer-
tification, including its education re-
quirement. The state requires a high
school diploma or GED to be certi-
fied as a police officer and the Po-
lice Bureau will adopt this standard.
Outlaw said the Bureau will con-
tinue to provide incentive pay to
officers who pursue higher educa-
tion and earn degrees. PPB will also
continue to develop training and
learning opportunities to ensure all
officers receive necessary education
and tools to develop and advance.
The department will also align
with the state in regard to the hiring
test, which is administered through
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