A8
OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, March 19, 2022
New report blasts management of public defense agency
By NOELLE CROMBIE
The Oregonian
SALEM — The state
agency that oversees Oregon’s
public defense system has
trouble executing basic func-
tions like paying lawyers and
investigators equitably and on
time and lacks a system to hold
lawyers accountable for their
work.
Those are among the obser-
vations included in a new
report of the Oregon Offi ce
of Public Defense Services.
The state hired the Coraggio
Group, a Portland-based busi-
ness management consulting
group, to review the agency.
The report includes scath-
ing comments from the
lawyers, investigators and
others who work with the
offi ce to provide services to
indigent defendants across the
state.
It comes amid a crisis in
public defense in Oregon.
Just this month, Metropoli-
tan Public Defender, one of
the largest public defender
agencies in the Portland area,
announced it would tempo-
rarily stop taking on misde-
meanor and felony cases due to
an unsustainable workload and
a recent fl urry of resignations.
Meanwhile, in Multnomah
County alone, about 150
criminal defendants lack an
attorney, court offi cials said
Wednesday.
A separate report by the
American Bar Association
recently found Oregon’s public
defense system is severely
understaffed and needs an
additional 1,300 lawyers to
meet the demands of the crim-
inal justice system.
The consultants inter-
viewed or surveyed 836
lawyers, investigators, agency
staff and others. Their report
turned up widespread dissat-
isfaction with the way the
agency is structured and long
and inexplicable delays in
getting paid. Others noted that
it appears the agency does little
to ensure that criminal defen-
dants receive quality represen-
tation.
The agency did not imme-
diately respond to a question
Wednesday about how much
it paid the consultants for the
review.
The state administers
the public defense system in
Oregon. Those services are
provided by nonprofit law
fi rms, such as Metropolitan
Public Defender, and inde-
pendent lawyers who take on
public defense cases.
The report highlights
comments from those
surveyed but does not include
their names.
One person urged a
complete dismantling of the
current system and said it has
created caseloads that compro-
mise lawyers’ ability to repre-
sent their clients.
Another commenter said
lawyers at nonprofit public
defense agencies are over-
worked and underpaid.
One participant said:
“Meanwhile, the majority of
indigent defense providers are,
at best, maybe OK at manag-
ing clients but have neither the
time nor the incentive to zeal-
ously advocate for their indi-
vidual clients. And there are a
great number, if not a majority,
of indigent defense providers
who are blatantly incompetent
and who are still permitted to
carry indigent defense case-
loads.”
The people surveyed in
particular criticized the public
defense offi ce for its failure
to process payments for the
lawyers and other contractors.
One person surveyed reported
spending time fighting the
agency to get approval “for
the tools I need to do my job.”
Skyrocketing food prices are pinching budgets OSHA plans to revise
By LYNNE TERRY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — Oregonians
and some state agencies are
grappling with soaring food
costs.
According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics,
retail food prices have jumped
8.6% in a year, including a 1%
uptick in February. Anyone
who’s gone shopping has had
sticker shock. Those who rely
on public food benefi ts are
especially vulnerable to rising
prices.
The federal government
increased the amount awarded
to recipients of the Supple-
mental Nutrition Assistance
Program, SNAP, in Octo-
ber, but not by much. School
districts also have received
some extra funding from the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture, which oversees school
food programs.
But the Oregon Depart-
ment of Corrections, which
spends $1.1 million a month
on food, has not received any
extra funding.
Offi cials have adjusted as
best they can.
Higher fuel costs, rising
freight charges and supply
chain issues have driven up
the cost of food over the past
two years, offi cials said.
“Everything is driving the
cost up,” said Ashley Mumm,
public relations manager at
the Food Bank.
Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter, File
Soaring food prices have hit schools, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Corrections and low-income Oregonians.
A few examples: In Octo-
ber, a truckload of canned
chicken cost $76,000. Now
the price is $95,000, Mumm
said. Last June, a truckload
of vegetable oil cost $30,000.
Now it’s $64,000.
The number of people
seeking food aid also jumped
dramatically once the
pandemic hit. Normally, the
Food Bank spends $1 million
a month on food. But it had to
spend more to meet demand.
“At the peak of a pandemic,
we were spending upwards
of $1 million a week on food
purchases because of the
disruptions to our regular food
sourcing channels, coupled
with the signifi cant increase
in demand for food assis-
tance,” said Jason Stephany,
the Food Bank’s communica-
tions director. “We witnessed
unprecedented demand.”
The Food Bank received
more than $14 million for food
for the 2021-23 budget cycle
through the state Department
of Human Services. A total of
$12 million came from federal
American Rescue Plan funds
awarded during the pandemic.
The Food Bank was also allo-
cated an additional $8 million
during the recent legislative
session. It will use that money
for food and to strengthen
its infrastructure, including
renovating some warehouses
to make them more effi cient.
Mumm said that the
agency has been able to meet
demand in part thanks to
donors.
“We had 25,000 new
donors last year,” Mumm
said. “The community is defi -
nitely stepping up.”
Besides the Food Bank,
which serves a network of
21 regional food banks that
serve 1,400 food pantries
and other programs, the other
food assistance programs in
Oregon are sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture and administered by the
state Department of Human
Services.
Last fi scal year, from Octo-
ber 2020 through September
2021, the federal government
gave Oregon $18 million for
a program that provides food
to families with incomes of
no more than about $3,400
a month for an individual or
nearly $7,000 a month for a
family of four. The USDA
also gave Oregon nearly
$800,000 to provide monthly
boxed allocations of food to
those 60 and older.
Money from the federal
government has been fairly
stable, according to Jake
Sunderland, press secretary
for the Department of Human
Services. He doesn’t expect it
to rise in the future.
COVID-19 guidelines
By SIERRA DAWN
MCCLAIN
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon
OSHA is updating its
COVID-19 workplace
guidelines.
In an email to the Capital
Press, agency spokesperson
Aaron Corvin confirmed
changes to workplace rules
are coming.
“We expect to initi-
ate rulemaking to make
changes to the COVID
rule for all workplaces this
week,” he said.
Asked about farm-spe-
cific workplace rules,
Corvin said, “As for the
COVID rule regarding
employer-provided hous-
ing, including on farms, it
remains in discussion.”
An agency memo states
that, with the exception of
fi rst responders, fi refi ghters,
emergency medical services
and non-emergency medical
transport sectors, Oregon
OSHA “will repeal all other
remaining industry-specifi c
and activity-specifi c work-
place guidance.”
Workplace requirements
for “exceptional risk work-
places” — defi ned by OSHA
as workplaces involv-
ing direct patient care and
similar activities — “will
generally remain in place,”
according to the memo,
until OSHA has had discus-
sions with stakeholders and
Oregon Health Authority.
OSHA plans to repeal the
remaining requirements
“as they become no longer
necessary.”
Until the new rulemak-
ing is announced, the memo
says that Oregon OSHA will
not enforce provisions of
COVID-19 workplace rules
except for the following:
• In general workplaces,
the memo says that employ-
ers must allow workers
to voluntarily use facial
coverings and provide facial
coverings at no cost to work-
ers.
• Employers also must
cover the costs associated
with COVID-19 testing if
the testing is “conducted at
the employer’s direction.”
In the memo, Oregon
OSHA recommends general
workplaces should continue
to use ventilation systems,
follow current quarantine
recommendations and give
notice to workers who have
potentially been exposed to
COVID-19 within 24 hours.
These recommendations are
denoted in the memo with
the word “should” rather
than “must.”
More information will be
available from OSHA as the
rulemaking unfolds.