Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed four bills related to behavioral health and substance use.
The bills, approved by members of both parties, involve initiatives aimed at improving and expanding mental health and addiction care in the state, according to the governor’s office.
The bills:
- House Bill 2059: Allocates $65M for to build new residential treatment facilities.
- House Bill 2024: Provides over $5M to OHA to build up the Behavioral health workforce and changes the law to provide more behavioral health workforce safety
- House Bill 2005: modifies the state's civil commitment laws making it easier to force mental health and substance use treatment on people who are deemed a danger to self and others
- House Bill 3321: Directs the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission to devise a plan to prevent alcohol and drug addiction
“These bills help fulfill that objective by giving providers more tools to intervene when someone is in crisis, supports the social workers and counselors who do the work, builds a strategy to prevent addiction among youth, and continues to increase the number of treatment beds available across the state to meet the need,” Kotek said.
During the conference, Kotek also took questions from members of the media. Here is a transcript of the full Q&A:
Christina Giardinelli KATU: There's a lot of folks -- and you had them up earlier doing pictures -- a lot of folks here (at Fora Health residential treatment center) are the people that some of these bills are written for. What can you say about what you're doing to center their voices in this conversation?
Kotek:It was really wonderful to be with residents here at Fora and those leaving here and going on with their lives. What I learned when I came to visit was the work that's being done here is really focused on that individual and the individual's needs. And in the course of our work and developing our proposals, we have included voices of individuals who have lived experience or who are also seeking that health care on a regular basis. What we have learned in this journey on these issues is that it would be hard to imagine any Oregonian who doesn't have an impact from knowing someone who's struggling with a mental illness or with a substance issue. It affects all of our communities. And so these bills are really lifting up all those personal stories to address the issues of care, when people can get care, and where they can get care. That's, at the end of the day, the bottom line. We have to do better in all these areas to make sure people have a good care.
Giardinelli:
And in terms of what you're doing to center those voices in the conversation today?
Kotek: We have, in a lot of our places like that, under a policy commission, we work with folks with lived experience. We have a lot of opportunities to hear directly from people who access the care because they are the folks who have the best ideas on what they need at the end of the day. And it's been an honor to work with them.
Noticias NW Tonya Sanchez:Immigrant communities are currently dealing with mental health issues which can lead to addiction, as the Trump administration keeps instilling fear, Pam Bondi said Oregon and Portland could soon be sued for being sanctuary jurisdiction. How will these bills help immigrant communities, what would be any specific services or resources?
Kotek: These bills are about lifting up all of our communities and major access to care. On the workforce side, we're spending a lot of focus on making sure that the workforce that is serving Oregonians, wherever you live in the state, looks like the communities they're serving. So a lot of focus on the workforce pipeline will reflect the diversity in our state. But I do wanna say, regardless of what the Trump administration does, a value here in Oregon is access to health care, no matter who you are and we're gonna continue fighting for that, no matter what happens from DC. Right now we have created strong access points for a lot of people in our state. I wanna keep it that way.
Heather Roberts freelance/Portland's Morning News Rural Oregon outside Portland, Eugene, Salem, Bend is notoriously underserved by mental health services, what are these bills doing to address those communities that don't have the infrastructure in place to have facilities like Fora?
Kotek: We've taken a regional approach in all of these bills. So in the bill that relates to investments in capacity, which is House Bill 2059, we're going to take a regional approach in distributing the $65 million. Remember, we did a, I led with a request to have a study that looks at gaps in care across the state with a regional perspective. We are following the guidance of that report. And so when you see the investments that come about from that $65 million, you're going to see access capacity being improved across the state. We're not going to solve every problem in the next two years, but every two years, we keep building more, keep providing the workforce to serve in those new facilities. And that is for the entire state. And it's true on the workforce issue as well. It was great to have Katie here, or Kate, who just graduated from the new program at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, that's focused on educational opportunities for folks to get into the field. We need more of that around the state. So when people are from those communities, they stay in those communities and then that workforce will be the new community now.
KGW:
(Inaudible question about state hospital capacity and access to treatment beyond civil commitment to include those convicted except for insanity or found unfit to stand trial.)
Kotek: One of the things we heard when we were having the conversations before the session about changes to the civil commitment law was making sure that when folks needed care through us the civil commitment process there would be a place to go and so we are focused on making sure the capacity money is also being focused to serve folks who might be coming through one system but need a place to go particularly if they're in the system because of civil commitment. Remember, right now at the state hospital, we have a lot of individuals who are there from aid and assist (unfit for trial), as we improve that system and help people move back into their communities and not just be at the state hospital that will free up places for individuals who might need the civil commitment placement for a short amount of time. We are focused on the entire continuum so as we improve access to care we will have the places where people can go.
KOIN ReporterJoey Vacca: What should Oregonians expect to see in terms of real change on the streets in their lives?
Kotek: Yes. The message for me is my administration is taking on all the different aspects of improving access to care when it comes to mental health and addiction. Making sure we have the workforce, making sure we have the beds, making sure the laws that are in place when someone is really hurting, they can get the care they need, and making sure at the end of the day we're preventing this by working with our young people. So all those things together, we're going to see improvement over the next two years. Making sure we can have folks have the place to be when they need care is the ultimate goal, and these bills are going to get us closer, and that's what I hope people take away from this today.
(Inaudible question about the reason for holding a ceremonial signing for bills that Kotek has already signed)
Kotek: I think that these types of events are really important because it gives us a moment, and I only take a moment 'cause I'm always on to the next challenge. But we have to take a moment and celebrate when we hit a success marker, and here this room was filled with people who have worked months, if not years, on some of the elements of the bills that were passed today. And so as Oregonians we have to say, we've worked together, we've succeeded, and then we move on to the next challenge. So I think these types of celebratory events are really good for us as for our soul to say like, hey, we did something, and we're gonna keep doing it together in World of Tartar. And that's why we do this. Plus, you get to meet the great people at Fora.
Evon Burnicle KATU News "Your Voice Your Vote Producer":
Can you please tell me how these bills, especially House Bill 2005, how will they change the health of people that we see on the streets clearly in crisis? And how can we immediately get help for them?
Kotek: Yeah, so that's one of the issues that I've been following for a couple of years now. My wife and I have talked about a lot as a social worker. She saw what was happening in the field when someone who was clearly in crisis needed to get access to health care. What the advocates did with 2005 is really assistive commitment. It's improved the criteria by which you can really be seen to be a danger to yourself before it was a very narrow criteria. So when we see people on the street who might be having a crisis, I think we're gonna have it a more direct path to saying, hey, let's give you some health care right now because you're clearly in crisis. And because you're so ill, you might not know it, but if we can get you stabilized and get you somewhere safer, you're gonna get better. And that is what the focus of that bill is. We should use it carefully, we should use it fluidly, but at the end of the day, it's much easier to help someone before something that really goes bad. Before they get hurt or they hurt somebody else. Getting them to care earlier is gonna be better for themselves and everyone else.
(Inaudible question from a reporter at The Oregonian on concerns over Trump's executive order on sanctuary states)
Kotek
Well, we haven't received anything new. I mean, I am not surprised we're on the list. We have had laws on the books since the '80s that claim and are clear about what we do when it comes to enforcing immigration laws here in the state of Oregon. We are a sanctuary state. We're very clear about that. And as far as I'm concerned, we're going to keep upholding our values and moving forward. And we haven't gotten anything new from the Trump administration regarding that stuff.
Vacca:
Governor, last week you announced place to potentially veto $45 million in funds appropriated for the Willamette Falls Trust. Have you been able to determine how the trust used the money in the past? Was the money misspent?
KotekI don't believe any money has been misspent. And we are still examining how those dollars they are still unspent, the dollars from the Metro and from state. So I have another 24 to 36 hours to make up my mind on that potential veto.
Giardinelli:I'm wondering why you had signaled the veto on this. What is your thought process on that? And then do you consider yourself a mediator in a complex inter-type tribal conflict, like the one that we're seeing with Willamette Falls ?
Kotek:So all the things that were on my potential veto list, the three bills, and the one budget item, I think you'll see a consistency of there were questions. And I want to make sure I'm asking all the questions I need to have answered before I make a decision. But as it related to Willamette Falls Trust $45 million in lottery bond allocation is a substantial allocation to a private entity. I just want to make sure we understand how the money is going to be spent and what it means for the entire Willamette Falls area, not just for the Willamette Falls Trust.
Giardinelli:In terms of that second part of the question, when it comes to your role as governor with the tribes, do you see yourself as a mediator in this complex inter-tribal conflict?
Kotek:Here's what I've learned visiting all nine tribes in my second year in office. As the head of a sovereign government, as the state of Oregon, it's not my job to tell the tribes what to do. What I can only do at this point is make sure that dollars that are being spent from state taxpayers are spent well and is comprehensively solving the problem at the falls.
Burnicle:
Just wondering, do you have the votes that you're gonna need for the special session to get the transportation package through?
KotekI suspect we will be successful on August 29th to pass the transportation package.
