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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2019)
OREGON Saturday, December 21, 2019 East Oregonian A9 Consulting fi rm set to walk away from DHS contract and Alvarez & Marsal agreed to increase the com- pany’s compensation to $3.5 million. The company was orig- inally to be paid up to $280,000 under its con- tract executed May 2, state records show. That fi gure steadily multiplied in the following months. Initially, the contract was due to end Oct. 26. Contract extensions in May, August and October were reviewed by a state procurement offi - cial and the Oregon Depart- ment of Justice, according to Gov. Kate Brown’s offi ce. Brown’s April 18 exec- utive order intervening at DHS allowed the state to suspend or change its pol- icies on hiring and con- tracting to expedite those processes. “The extensions were granted after (Alvarez & Marsal) demonstrated they were making progress in Alvarez & Marsal expected to clear $3.5 million By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Consultants hired to lift Oregon’s foster care system out of dysfunc- tion were expected to close up shop Friday. All told, they are expected to walk away with $3.5 million after eight months of work. While about 60 foster children sent to facilities in other states have come back to Oregon as a result of the work of Alvarez & Marsal, a global consulting fi rm, the impact on the thousands of kids in Oregon’s foster care system has yet to be widely felt. State records show that in late October, the state EO Media Group fi le photo Oregon Department of Human Services headquarters. Con- sultants hired to lift Oregon’s foster care system out of dys- function were expected to close up shop Friday. meeting the objectives of the (executive order),” a spokes- man for Brown, Charles Boyle, wrote in an email. “Progress was monitored in daily check-in calls with staff, weekly reports to the governor, monthly meetings of the Child Welfare Over- sight Board, and in legisla- tive briefi ngs.” Alvarez & Marsal are known for restructuring and business services, contract- ing with private companies and governments across the country to fi x problems and fi nd effi ciencies. Brown brought on the consultants to overhaul the state Department of Human Services’ child welfare sys- tem after a highly publi- cized controversy over offi - cials’ practice of sending foster kids to residential facilities in other states with little oversight. Last week, Oregon Pub- lic Broadcasting published an investigation into the practice, fi nding that the state entrusted vulnera- ble kids to a private com- pany, Sequel, that operates residential facilities. Chil- dren in those facilities have been hurt and abused, OPB reported. Brown said the consul- tants would focus on internal operations of Oregon DHS to improve internal practices and procedures that would provide better treatment of Oregon foster kids. The consultants told state offi cials in a brief- ing Tuesday that hurdles remain. That briefi ng, which lays out areas where DHS still has trouble and steps to fi x those problems, was provided to the Oregon Capital Bureau by the gov- ernor’s offi ce. The consultants said that Oregon’s foster care pro- gram struggles with pri- oritizing and carrying out projects, and that it should set up clear “roles, respon- sibilities and measurable goals.” DHS must work bet- ter with the state’s health agency to meet kids’ needs, they said. They also recommended that the team that reviews deaths of children report directly to the director of the state child welfare pro- gram. Information from those reviews should be used to better train work- ers, consultants said. Oregon Liquor Control Commission bans CBD-infused alcohols CBD helps them,” said Wise. Customers still have options. The ban doesn’t apply to drinks that aren’t alcoholic and Growler Guys has four taps of CBD-in- fused soft drinks. So, does Wise think cus- tomers will be OK getting their CBD from something other than alcohol? “They may,” she said. “But they still prefer the beer.” Up to now, Oregon has been relatively permissive in its approach to CBD con- sumption. In 2015, the state Legislature said hemp and marijuana could legally be added to foods. Sunny Summers, the cannabis policy coordinator with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said since then CBD’s been added to all kinds of things. “People are adding it to a By KRISTIAN FODEN-VENCIL Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — The Oregon Liquor Control Commission passed a ban Thursday on manufacturing and selling alcohol that’s been mixed with CBD, an inactive ingre- dient of cannabis, but one that has medicinal qualities. The Growler Guys in South Portland has 40 dif- ferent beers on tap, said Sue Wise. She orders them and said her customers aren’t going to appreciate the OLCC ban on infusing alco- hol with cannabidiol — the non-psychoactive ingredi- ent in cannabis, often short- handed to CBD. “People feel like the CBD in the beer is helpful, whether it’s for muscle pain or other injuries they have. People really believe the shot to coffee or smoothies for example. I’ve seen donuts that have it. Gummies. Gum … I’ve seen sodas with CBD in it. Pretty much, if you can imagine it people are likely looking at it or have done it,” said Summers. Several Oregon brewers jumped on the CBD trend and introduced beers con- taining the cannabis chem- ical that people use for a range of medicinal purposes. But alcohol is different from food and falls squarely under the purview of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. The executive director, Steve Marks, said those beers are not techni- cally legal. “Both federal govern- ment and (the state) should be enforcing against that,” said Marks. To some degree, Marks is following in the footsteps AWD Excludes Hybrid 0 % APR OR 2,500 Cash Back $ AWD 2019 nies aren’t suffi ciently test- ing CBD to see how much is being mixed into drinks. 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