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CASA keeps stepping up for
the community amid COVID
Volunteers Moothart,
Creighton sworn in
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
More help may soon be
available for those affected by
COVID-19.
Grant-Harney
County
CASA Executive Direc-
tor Hannah Hinman said the
court appointed special advo-
cates organization expects a
grant from the Oregon Health
Authority to provide wrap-
around services to people who
test positive for the corona-
virus and are asked to quar-
antine or have had close con-
tact with someone who tests
positive for COVID-19. She
said the services could include
assistance with rent, mort-
gage, utilities or other basic
needs, such as grocery and
prescription deliveries.
“It’s a big financial impact
for a lot of people to stay
home for two weeks and not
go to work,” she said.
Hinman said there is
still a long way to go before
CASA can offer the ser-
vices. The organization still
needs to hire, onboard and
train an employee, and estab-
lish a process for handling
referrals from both the Grant
and Harney county health
departments.
She said the funding is
through the coronavirus
relief fund and other funding
streams.
She said the funding
opened up in March, and
CASA did not apply for the
wraparound service funding.
Still, she said, CASA did
commit a couple of hours a
week to disseminate accurate
COVID-19 information in the
community.
She said because CASA
accepted the community
engagement grant, they began
internally discussing offering
the services.
Hinman said wraparound
service is not something the
organization typically does.
Still, Hinman said, OHA
and the Grant County Health
Department felt like it would
be a good idea to have some-
thing available for people.
She said the Central Ore-
gon Disability Services net-
work, the organization that
covers Grant County, could
not keep up when the county
saw a 900% increase in infec-
tions in the fall.
Since then, she said CODS,
along with the People Mover
and churches in Grant County,
have been able to keep up, and
the county has not seen the
uptick in cases like it did in
November.
She said the base fund-
ing for the wraparound ser-
vices will be $15,710 over six
months, and they were also
approved for $4,950 to con-
tinue the community engage-
ment and outreach.
Hinman said the outreach
and engagement allowed
them to partner with the
health department, Blue
Mountain Hospital Dis-
trict, Community Counseling
Solutions, Community Health
Improvement Coalition and
local businesses.
In recent months, she said,
the outreach has consisted
of posting flyers around the
county and providing personal
protective equipment. Hinman
said CASA provided colorable
bookmarks in the “Healthy
and Fit” boxes that the hospi-
tal district gave to kids instead
of the in-person event it typi-
cally hosts.
Hinman said CASA will
be coming up with a COVID-
19-related activity with prizes
and giveaways as part of men-
tal health kits to be sent out
to students because the Teen
Mental Health Fair hosted by
CCS and its partners will not
be held in person.
New CASA volunteers
Earlier this month, two vol-
unteers from Grant and Har-
ney counties were sworn in
as Court Appointed Special
Advocates.
Grant-Harney
County
CASA will now have an advo-
cate appointed to 35 of the 67
children eligible to have one,
just over half, according to
Hinman.
Like other organizations,
Hinman said CASA was not
immune to COVID-19 and its
challenges when it comes to
training and recruiting.
She said the 40-hour train-
ing for the two new volun-
teers, Mark Creighton and
Stephanie Moothart, was com-
pletely virtual.
“This year has created
challenges for our organiza-
tion in recruiting and train-
ing new CASA volunteers,”
she said. “And we have been
working hard to adjust our
previous approaches.”
Hinman said the addition
of Creighton and Moothart
brings the total number of vol-
unteers up to 19.
“As soon as they’re
assigned to a case, they will
help us serve more children,”
she said.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
A3
Raschio sells law firm to become judge
Kati Dunn takes over
Strawberry Mountain Law
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
The new judge sold his old law firm.
Rob Raschio sold Strawberry Moun-
tain Law PC as he transitions to his new
position in the community as circuit
court judge for the 24th Judicial District.
Raschio sold the firm to Kati Dunn,
who moved to Prairie City in Novem-
ber 2019 to work there
as an attorney. Prior
to working in Grant
County, Dunn worked
at Metropolitan Public
Defender in Portland
for 20 years.
Kati Dunn
“I feel very honored
and excited to be the
new owner of Strawberry Mountain Law
PC,” Dunn said. “...I would like poten-
tial clients to know that our attorneys are
very skilled and dedicated, and take our
clients’ confidentiality and legal prob-
lems very seriously. I’d like the commu-
nity to know that we are committed to
being good neighbors and a dependable
part of this beautiful community.”
Raschio said he is no longer affiliated
with the law firm.
“You have to give it all up to take
on the public trust,” Raschio said. “You
Contributed photo
Rob Raschio, left, shakes hands with outgoing Grant and Harney Circuit Judge William
D. Cramer Jr. after being sworn in as the new judge.
have to get rid of private relationships
with firms.”
Raschio also withdrew from cases to
which he was assigned as a defense attor-
ney and signed orders to recuse himself
from those cases.
He said he is not able to preside over
cases including people he has repre-
sented in the past unless enough time has
passed and neither party has an objection
to him presiding over a case.
“Other than that, it’s been an inter-
esting experience getting started, and
there’s a lot to learn,” Raschio said. “I’m
doing my best everyday to learn six or
seven new things and make sure we’re
getting started on this new era.”
Raschio said he has appreciated
the help received from stakeholders
involved in the criminal justice sys-
tem who are working diligently with the
court to make the transition smooth.
“It’s good to put the election behind
us and get the work of the court going,”
Raschio said. “That’s good news for
everybody involved.”
Owens, Findley highlight importance of public participation
Landlord relief bill
among proposals
in Oregon Senate
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Relief for landlords and
a push for public participa-
tion are among the priorities
of Republican lawmakers in
Eastern Oregon as the legis-
lative session gets underway.
State Sen. Lynn Findley,
R-Vale, announced he intro-
duced a bill to provide relief
to landlords as he hopes for
bipartisan work in the upcom-
ing legislative session.
Findley said the gover-
nor’s executive order prohib-
iting evictions, even for those
who don’t pay rent, because
of COVID-19 has caused a
crisis. He said landlords still
had to cover their bills and
operational costs.
“I’ve introduced legis-
lation that will provide tax
credits for the revenue lost to
the landlords due to COVID,”
Findley said. “... We have
to provide support to the
landlords.”
Findley said he will not
support any bill requiring
mandatory vaccinations in
Oregon.
“I, like you, have seen the
bills that are out there and
floating around the legislature
that makes mandatory vacci-
nations,” Findley said. “I do
not support any of those. I do
support anyone that wants a
vaccine to get that shot, but I
also do not believe it’s logi-
cal or legal to make manda-
tory a vaccine that is not FDA
approved.”
During a virtual town hall
meeting Jan. 14, Findley said
900 bills were introduced in
the Senate prior to the start
of the session with more bills
still being introduced.
Until the first of April, the
legislative session is going to
be virtual, and all of the pol-
icy committees will be done
online, Findley said in an
interview on Jan. 15. Once
every couple of weeks, a floor
session will be held to move
bills between chambers and
Owens
Findley
introduce new legislation.
State Rep. Mark Owens,
R-Crane, said during the vir-
tual town hall that transpar-
ency and public participation
is important when making
public policies.
“You can’t make good
public policy without public
participation,” Owens said.
“The public participation
will be limited to the virtual
world, and I have concerns
with that, and it is one of my
priorities this session, to fig-
ure out how we can get back
to the Capitol.”
Findley said it will be
incumbent upon legislators
to ensure they receive pub-
lic input on legislation. He
said the public needs to stay
informed and provide their
opinions.
“People will have to be
actively engaged,” Findley
said. “They can’t just wait
for us to tell them everything
simply because of the sheer
massive amount of bills.”
Findley hopes legislators
can find ways to reduce the
number of bills that divide
them and work together.
Findley said he thinks
about 95% of the legisla-
tion can reach bipartisan
agreement.
“I’d like to move that num-
ber higher to 97% or 98%,”
Findley said. “Find ways
to work together and seek a
good resolution for all.”
Owens said he was con-
cerned for the country and the
state. He said free speech and
the right to protest are great,
but when it turns into van-
dalism, personal attacks or
anything beyond a protest, it
needs to stop.
“We need to learn from
each other, and we need to
respect each other,” Owens
said. “Please support your
neighbor, no matter who they
are, and let’s move forward
together.”
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