WWW . THESkANNER . COM
J ANUARy 5, 2010
P ORTlANd & S EATTlE
V OlUME XXXIII, N O . 11
25
CENTS
I NSIDE
White House Blacks
page 5
College Admission
page 4
Simmons’ ‘Super Rich’
C hallenging P eoPle to S haPe a B etter F uture n ow
Mortgage
Payment
Program
page 6
Patriots
State still looking for
homeowners who
need assistance
by brian Stimson
Of The Skanner News
T
It’s not a joke or a scheme, but too few
people have signed up for the help.
“Maybe they think it’s too good to be
true,” says Catherine Kes, Director of
Housing Development at Hacienda CDC,
the agency that is administering the pro-
gram.
The state is prepared to help homeowners
who have experienced job loss or a reduc-
tion in income, by paying their mortgage for
12 months or $20,000, whichever comes
first. Qualified applicants need to complete
an application by Jan. 14 and schedule an
appointment by Jan. 16 with Hacienda CDC
to enter the lottery for 5,000 slots.
Lisa Joyce, communication manager for
Oregon Housing and Community Services,
says the agency isn’t in the business of
deciding which family’s need is greater than
any others. By establishing guidelines relat-
ing to income loss, income, liquid assets,
and other criteria, she says they can more
fairly administer limited funds.
Right now, Kes says that fewer than 5,000
qualified homeowners across the state have
signed up, making it pretty decent odds to
receive the money.
“It’s a pretty simple process,” she said.
Once you’ve determined your eligibility
by asking some simple questions on
www.oregonhomeownerhelp.org, you have
to meet with a representative and provide
documentation to prove your eligibility. If
you are awarded the money through the pro-
gram, eligibility must be established every
month or you risk losing the assistance.
Kes wants to assure people that the assis-
tance comes with very few catches. Namely,
so long as you don’t sell your house and
profit from that sale within five years, you
won’t have to pay back the money. And
phOtO cOurtSEy Of thE hIllSbOrO fIrE DEpArtmENt
he state of Oregon wants to pay your
mortgage.
The Patriot Flag flies over Hillsboro Fire Station 3 early Friday morning on its journey across the country. Its destination
is the tenth anniversary ceremonies of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Audits Target Corrections Programs
Early Release, juvenile sanctions working mostly as intented
by brian Stimson
Of The Skanner News
T
he Oregon Secretary of
State’s Office released
two audits of the state’s
correctional system this week.
Both the Oregon Youth
Authority and the Oregon
Department of Corrections’
Earned Time program were
found to be largely following
their objectives, with several
problems
identified
by
researchers.
The Oregon Youth Authority
See hElp on page 3
INDEX
was found to be using appropri-
ate sanctions for youth within its
custody, although the audit did
find some youth who were
given inappropriate sanctions
for their circumstances. When
youth are charged with a crime
and referred to the juvenile
department in a county, they
face a variety of different out-
comes based upon their crimes
and situation. A youth charged
with a Measure 11 crime is
automatically referred to a
detention facility and will face
trial in an adult court. Other
youths are given a variety of
sanctions, ranging from proba-
tion, detention in a facility, or
rehabilitation.
The audit of the Oregon Youth
Authority analyzed 3,300 place-
ments in 36 counties around the
state for youth who were placed
on probation, in residential
treatment centers and in Youth
Correctional Facilities.
Auditors used a four-pronged
system to try to explain the
placement of juveniles in a
detention facility – offense
severity, offense history, risk to
Deck headline goes here and goes here
Opinion ..................4,5
L
Bids/Classifieds .......6,7
See AuDItS on page 3
Washington Takes on State’s Problems
News ......................2,3
A & E .........................6
reoffend, and probation viola-
tions. The factors explained the
placement of about 84 percent
of juvenile detainees. In the
other 16 percent of placements,
auditors studied the cases to
determine why those youth
were placed on probation or in
custody , despite national best
practices suggesting that youth
placed in detention actually run
a greater risk of recidivating
than youth placed in a commu-
nity environment.
After examining 142 individ-
egislators from both parties joined
Washington State Attorney General
Rob McKenna this week to announce
proposals to save money, protect the vulner-
able and make government more account-
able.
The legislative session begins on Jan. 10.
“People depend on us to solve problems,”
McKenna said. “We’re proud to work with
legislators from both sides of the aisle who
are as determined as we are to make our
streets safer, and to make state government
leaner and more accountable.”
The Attorney General’s Office and the
State Auditor’s Office’s Open Government
Task Force recommend the creation of an
administrative board to rule on complaints
of violations of the Public Records Act
(PRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act
(OPMA). Legislation sponsored by Rep.
Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, creates the
Office of Public Records within the Office
of Administrative Hearings.
“It’s our hope that this pilot program will
expand in the years to come, broadening
access to government information,”
McKenna said. “It will also prevent expen-
sive lawsuits over the denial of records.”
See AgENDA on page 3