OREGON
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
East Oregonian
State recruits teens to
spend $1 million in
federal recovery funds
By LYNNE TERRY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — The Oregon
Health Authority is recruit-
ing teenagers for an advi-
sory council that will decide
how to spend $1 million in
COVID-recovery funds.
The agency wants the
money to help alleviate
some of the impacts of the
pandemic on young people,
who suffered socially, intel-
lectually and emotionally
from switching to online
learning and curtailing their
social interactions and activ-
ities. The health authority
said young people are the
best ones to decide how those
funds should be spent.
“I think young people
are really suffering, and it’s
important that we as adults
understand what they want
and what recovery looks like
to them,” Lev Schneidman,
the agency’s recovery school
health program coordinator,
said in a statement. “We can
make all these decisions about
how the money is spent, but
ultimately we have to ask,
‘Do the young people want
it?’ We are of the belief that
people should have a say (in)
what their health and wellness
looks like, but we often forget
young people in that.”
The agency is seeking
20 teenagers between 15
and 19 to apply by Thurs-
day, March 31. They have to
agree to dedicate five hours a
month to the council, includ-
ing attending a two-hour
monthly meeting and two
four-hour retreats.
There are no other require-
ments or qualifications
needed to land a spot on the
Youth Advisory Council.
“We want a diverse group
of young people from all
around the state who are
excited to engage in this
process with us,” said Erica
Heartquist, a spokesperson
for the agency.
This is the agency’s
latest committee to include
people with experience in the
subject. Past results have been
mixed. A year ago, the agency
convened a committee that
aimed to reduce inequities.
The Oregon Vaccine Advi-
sory Committee included
advocates for racial and
ethnic minorities. Its task
was to set priority groups for
the COIVD-19 vaccine roll-
out. After three meetings, the
agency’s public health direc-
tor, Rachael Banks, rejected
their recommendations and
said they could not, by law,
prioritize groups based on
race and ethnicity.
The state also has an over-
sight committee that is in
charge of spending millions of
MORE
INFORMATION
Interested teens can go
online to apply. Besides
contact information, the
form asks for state-
ments about the “lived
experiences, identities,
perspectives, skills and/
or knowledge” the appli-
cant would bring to the
council, how COVID has
affected youth and how
the council could help
stem health inequities.
dollars related to drug addic-
tion following the passage in
2020 of Measure 110, which
decriminalized drug posses-
sion. The measure speci-
fied the oversight committee
needed to include members
with experience with addic-
tion. Critics say the commit-
tee is struggling because it
lacks agency leadership.
For the youth council,
the agency has not publicly
specified who will choose
the final council members
or what qualifications they
will look for. Heartquist said
the agency is “assembling
a group of OHA staff from
different departments to help
select the candidates and then
we will conduct interviews
with the help of some more
staff members.”
Besides the teens, the
council will include three
adults, including at least one
facilitator and staff from the
agency’s Public Health Divi-
sion.
“We are contracting with
very skilled facilitators who
have extensive experience
with policy work who will
guide the process,” Heartquist
said.
The group will have wide
leeway in how they spend the
money in schools. It must be
used for wages or personnel
support, including training,
certification and licensure.
In terms of guidelines,
Heartquist said the agency’s
priorities include:
• Enhancing culturally
and linguistically specific
services in schools.
• Developing youth lead-
ership.
• Mental health and behav-
ioral health care.
• Providing livable wages
to unlicensed staff.
The council will define
values for recovery, discuss
youth needs and health ineq-
uities and talk about commu-
nity engagement. Members
will be paid $45 an hour for
the time they spend on coun-
cil activities, or get credit
for community service, if
they prefer.
CONGRATULATIONS
GOES OUT TO THE FOLLOWING COMMUNITY MEMBERS:
52nd Distinguished Citizens Awards
MAN OF THE YEAR
Steve Williams
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Alberta Wilkerson
BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Midway Bar & Grill
To the following businesses that recently held a ribbon cutting
Oregon seeks input on
wildfire recovery funds
By JULIA SHUMWAY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — State offi-
cials are asking Oregonians
to weigh in on how the state
should spend millions in
federal wildfire recovery
money.
More than 4,000 Oregon
homes were destroyed by
severe wildfires in 2020,
according to the state Office
of Emergency Management.
Much of the $422 million
federal grant from the U.S.
Housing and Urban Devel-
opment department will be
used to replace lost homes,
but the state can also use
some of the money to repair
or rebuild public infrastruc-
ture or to rebuild the local
economy.
The Oregon Housing
and Community Services
Department is running anon-
line survey seeking input on
how to spend the money.
Oregonians will also be able
to share feedback on the
eventual plan in May.
Alex Campbell, chief
external affairs officer for
Recovery and Resiliency
at the department, said in a
statement that state employ-
ees are especially interested
in hearing from older Orego-
nians, Latinos and people
with disabilities who have
specific housing needs.
“We are looking for public
input, because it’s the right
thing to do,” he said. “It’s the
‘Oregon Way,’ and we know
it will make the plan better.”
The federal funding
follows $150 million that the
state Legislature allocated
in 2021 for housing in the
counties most affected by the
2020 fires. Jackson County,
in particular, lost more than
2,300 homes, most of which
were manufactured homes
in 18 mobile home parks
destroyed by the Almeda fire.
About 280 studio apart-
ments are set to open in
Jackson County by June,
according to the Housing
and Community Services
Department. Another 687
affordable homes in Douglas,
Jackson, Klamath and Lane
counties will begin housing
people by the end of the year.
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