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LAWYERS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

DISABILITY RIGHTS OREGON The Protection and Advocacy office for Oregon Opportunity, Access, Choice. LAWYERS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. DRO is a Non-Profit Law Firm designated as Oregon’s Protection & Advocacy office. (P&A).

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LAWYERS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

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  1. DISABILITY RIGHTS OREGONThe Protection and Advocacy office for OregonOpportunity, Access, Choice

  2. LAWYERS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DRO is a Non-Profit Law Firm designated as Oregon’s Protection & Advocacy office. (P&A). Each state and territory has a P&A funded by the Federal Government. P&As have broad statutory powers to safeguard the human and civil rights of people with disabilities.

  3. Limitations of language • “disability,” “mental illness” • Acronyms and titles derived from federal statutes . . . • We recognize the limitations of labels • We recognize the uniqueness of all people

  4. DRO VISION Disability Rights Oregon has a vision of a society in which persons with disabilities have equality of opportunity, full participation and the ability to exercise meaningful choice.

  5. DRO SERVICES • 10 attorneys, 2 intake specialists, 3 advocates, lobbyist, 4 benefits planners and support staff. • Available statewide to more than 600,000 Oregonians with disabilities at no cost to them. • Governed by a volunteer board of directors. • PAIMI advisory council

  6. SPECIAL P&A POWERS • Access to records • Clients with their consent • Those incapable of providing consent (if we suspect abuse or neglect) • Access to facilities and residents • To investigate complaints of abuse/neglect • With probable cause to believe that abuse or neglect has occurred • Monitoring

  7. DRO Goals: • Stopping Abuse and Neglect • Providing Full Access to Community Participation • Getting and Maintaining Quality Community Support Services • Free and Appropriate Education for Children

  8. STOPPING ABUSE & NEGLECT IN INSTITUTIONS • Advocating for adequate treatment, care and services • Preventing forced medication, forced hospitalization and court procedures to restrict individual liberties. • Investigating deaths of people in treatment care or correctional facilities • Discovering & stopping improper seclusion & restraint • Investigating complaints of abuse and neglect.

  9. COMMUNITY INTEGRATION • Monitoring compliance with US DOJ agreements with Portland Police and OSH • Advocating for treatment in the least restrictive and most integrated setting

  10. ACCESS TO THE COMMUNITY • Removing barriers in public places with an emphasis on education, transportation & the courts. • Achieving reasonable accommodations for tenants to prevent homelessness and isolation. • Increasing the supply of accessible and integrated housing through policy work. • Protecting individuals against guardianships that cause significant restrictions on rights & freedoms. • Working to achieve full participation in the electoral process.

  11. ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTHCARE AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES • Securing community services to remain safe and independent. • Advocating for necessary services, including assistive technology. • Expanding available health care through policy work.

  12. SUPPORT OF INDEPENDENCE THROUGH EMPLOYMENT • Assisting people receiving SSDI & SSI to obtain services and supports needed in their efforts to find and keep a job. • Advocacy for people having problems with vocational rehabilitation Services. • Reasonable accommodations in the work place. • Current litigation to provide jobs with real wages and advancement opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.

  13. ACCESS TO A FREE AND APPROPRIATE EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN • Preventing schools from keeping children out of school because of their disabilities. • Stopping schools from using inappropriate restraints, seclusion, aversion techniques and police to deal with difficult behavior issues. • Securing appropriate special education services in the most integrated environment.

  14. CASES DRO TAKES Cases are accepted from about 3200 requests per year based upon: • Legal issues that fall within annually set goals and priorities • Cases where a person is at risk of long-term harm • Cases that will make positive changes for the community • Services to minority, rural and other underserved communities

  15. Oregon House Bill 3025 The National Movement for Fair Chance Hiring Reform - Fair chance hiring helps to lift the stigma of the “record” and allows a person's skills and qualifications to come first. Momentum for the policy reform has grown exponentially, particularly in recent years. Just in 2013 and 2014, eight states passed legislation, which at least all included ban the box. Today, there are 15 states and over 100 U.S. localities across the country that have removed the conviction history question from the job application and delayed background checks until later in hiring • .

  16. Oregon House Bill 3025 • http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm • EEOC Enforcement Guidance Number 915.002 Date 4/25/2012 • An employer's use of an individual's criminal history in making employment decisions may, in some instances, violate the prohibition against employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. • The Guidance builds on longstanding court decisions and existing guidance documents that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Commission or EEOC) issued over twenty years ago. • The Guidance focuses on employment discrimination based on race and national origin. The Introduction provides information about criminal records, employer practices, and Title VII. o

  17. Oregon House Bill 3025 • The EEOC Guidance discusses the differences between arrest and conviction records. • The fact of an arrest does not establish that criminal conduct has occurred, and an exclusion based on an arrest, in itself, is not job related and consistent with business necessity. However, an employer may make an employment decision based on the conduct underlying an arrest if the conduct makes the individual unfit for the position in question. • In contrast, a conviction record will usually serve as sufficient evidence that a person engaged in particular conduct. In certain circumstances, however, there may be reasons for an employer not to rely on the conviction record alone when making an employment decision. • .

  18. Oregon House Bill 3025 The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 02, 2015 • Adult Reentry Education Grants.  • Arrests Guidance for Public and other HUD-Assisted Housing. • Banning the Box in Federal Employment. • TechHire: Expanding tech training and jobs for individuals with criminal records.  • Establishing a National Clean Slate Clearinghouse. • Permanent Supportive Housing for the Reentry Population through Pay for Success. • Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program Awards to Support Public Housing Residents. • .

  19. Oregon House Bill 3025 Seventy-Eighth Oregon Legislative Assembly -2015 Regular Session (At the request of Oregon AFL-CIO and the Urban League of Portland – Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND LABOR) MEASURE: HB 3025 B STAFF MEASURE SUMMARY • After release, ex-offenders are expected to reintegrate into society by obtaining suitable housing, complying with court-ordered payment of debts such as restitution and/or child support in arrears, and supporting themselves, all of which being predicated on their ability to secure gainful employment. Studies have also found that employment can reduce recidivism. • According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), at least 27 states limit or prohibit the use of criminal records for public or private employment and/or licensing eligibility. NCSL also reports that 13 states, plus the District of Columbia, have enacted “Ban the Box” legislation restricting or prohibiting employers from using applicant’s criminal history in employment consideration, with few exceptions. • .

  20. Oregon House Bill 3025 Seventy-Eighth Oregon Legislative Assembly -2015 Regular Session MEASURE: HB 3025 B STAFF MEASURE SUMMARY • Establishes unlawful employment practice for employer to exclude an applicant from initial interview solely because of a past criminal conviction if employer requires disclosure of convictions on employment application or prior to initial interview or, when not interview is conducted, prior to conditional offer of employment. Creates exceptions for employers subject to federal, state or local law requiring consideration of applicant’s criminal history; law enforcement agencies; employers in criminal justice system; and employers seeking nonemployee volunteers. Grants enforcement authority to the Bureau of Labor and Industries. • .

  21. Oregon House Bill 3025 SECTION 1. • (1) It is an unlawful practice for an employer to exclude an applicant from an initial interview solely because of a past criminal conviction. • (2) An employer excludes an applicant from an initial interview if the employer: (a) Requires an applicant to disclose on an employment application a criminal conviction; (b) Requires an applicant to disclose, prior to an initial interview, a criminal conviction; or (c) If no interview is conducted, requires an applicant to disclose, prior to making a conditional offer of employment, a criminal conviction. • o

  22. Oregon House Bill 3025 • (3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2) of this section, nothing in this section prevents an employer from considering an applicant’s conviction history when making a hiring decision. • o

  23. Oregon House Bill 3025 (4) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section do not apply: • (a) If federal, state or local law, including corresponding rules and regulations, requires the consideration of an applicant’s criminal history; • (b) To an employer that is a law enforcement agency; • (c) To an employer in the criminal justice system; or • (d) To an employer seeking a nonemployee volunteer. ______________________________________________________ • Passed by House April 29, 2015 @ 33-7 • Passed by Senate June 11, 2015 @ 21-8 • Repassed by House June 16, 2015 @ 34-25 • Governor signed June 25, 2015 • Effective January 1, 2016 • .

  24. House Bill 3025 • http://bantheboxcampaign.org/ • http://blog.dol.gov/2015/11/09/ban-the-box-good-for-people-with-disabilities-2/ • https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/02/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-new-actions-promote-rehabilitation • .

  25. House Bill 2557 WHAT THE MEASURE DOES: • Authorizes court to set aside findings of guilty and responsible except for insanity. Establishes criteria and process. Adds Psychiatric Security Review Board, Department of Human Services, and Oregon Health Authority to certain definitions that apply to expunction of juvenile case records. • Clarifies that medical records in the possession of the Psychiatric Security Review Board or the Oregon Health Authority are not to be sealed following a successful motion to set aside. • Clarifies language to establish consistency with ORS 137.225. • .

  26. House Bill 2557 • ORS 137.225 authorizes the court to set aside, or “expunge,” certain criminal convictions. The statute establishes rules for which offenses may be expunged, as well as the process one follows in seeking an expungement. • In State v. Saunders, 195 Or. App. 357 (2004), the Oregon Court of Appeals issued an opinion stating that a finding of guilty except for insanity (GEI) is not a conviction. It is therefore ineligible for expungement. • .

  27. House Bill 2557 • Section 1 of House Bill 2557-B authorizes the court to expunge adult GEI adjudications. The bill adopts criteria and procedures from ORS 137.225. Offenses eligible under ORS 137.225 are eligible under this bill. When an order setting aside a GEI adjudication is granted, the person is no longer legally deemed to have been found GEI and the court records are sealed. • The bill requires the court to inform people that their right to possess, purchase, or acquire a firearm is still prohibited under federal law. • The court retains jurisdiction to unseal and disclose records relating to GEI adjudication in civil actions in which truth is a defense or criminal cases when the moving party shows good cause. • .

  28. House Bill 2557 • In addition, Section 2 of House Bill 2557-B adds language to ORS 419A.260 and authorizes the expunction of records associated with juvenile adjudications of responsible except for insanity. • .

  29. House Bill 2557 • A person described in subsection (1) of this section may file the motion to set aside a judgment of guilty except for insanity any time after three years from the date of entry of the judgment of guilty except for insanity, provided that: • (a) The person is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board or the Oregon Health Authority; and • (b) The person has no other findings of guilty except for insanity within the 10 years prior to filing the motion and no convictions for offenses other than motor vehicle violations within the 10 years prior to filing the motion. • .

  30. House Bill 2557 • (4)(a) Upon hearing the motion, the court may require the filing of such affidavits and may require the taking of such proofs as the court deems proper. The court shall allow the victim, if any, to make a statement at the hearing. • (b) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection, if the court determines that the circumstances and behavior of the person from the date of the judgment of guilty except for insanity to the date of the hearing on the motion warrant the court granting the motion, the court shall enter an order setting aside the judgment of guilty except for insanity. • (c) Unless the court makes written findings by clear and convincing evidence that granting the motion would not be in the best interests of justice, the court shall grant the motion and enter an order as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection if the defendant was found guilty except for insanity of an offense described in ORS 137.225 (13) and is otherwise eligible for relief under this section. • .

  31. House Bill 2557 • Standard filing fee - $252 (ORS 21.135) • Fingerprint fee $80 • .

  32. House Bill 2557 • 1. My conviction is for one of the offenses which ORS 137.225 allows to be set aside; • 2. At least three (3) years have passed since the date of my conviction. If I was convicted of a Class B felony, at least twenty (20) years have passed since my conviction or release from imprisonment (whichever is later) and I have not been arrested for or convicted of any other offense since my conviction; • 3. I have not been convicted of any other felony, misdemeanor, or violation level offense (other than traffic violations or one (1) non-traffic violation) within the ten (10) year period immediately preceding the filing of this motion; • 4. I fully complied with and performed the sentence of the court, including payment of all financial obligations; • 5. If my probation was revoked, at least ten (10) years have passed since the date of my probation revocation; • 6. I have not previously had any other conviction set aside which had a conviction date in the ten (10) year period immediately preceding the filing of this motion; • 7. I have no pending charges (other than traffic violations) in any court; and • 8. I understand that if my conviction involved a victim, the District Attorney will notify the victim of this motion. • .

  33. House Bill 2557 • Multnomah County Court info sheet: http://mcda.us/wp-content/files_mf/1452112647JAN2016ExpunctionInstructions.pdf Forms: http://courts.oregon.gov/Marion/MaterialsAndResources/pages/setasiderequest.aspx http://courts.oregon.gov/Lane/pages/forms.aspx http://courts.oregon.gov/Coos/pages/expungements.aspx Deschutes DA website suggests: If you choose to prepare your own documents, one option is to obtain preprinted forms through www.stevensness.com or through any stationary store (the forms you will need for an arrest are #1246 – Order Setting Aside Arrest, #1247 – Motion For Setting Aside Arrest, and #1245 – Affidavit RE Setting Aside Arrest. Forms for a conviction are # 1131- Motion for Setting Aside Conviction, # 1132 - Affidavit RE Setting Aside Conviction and #1133 - Order Setting Aside Conviction.) • .

  34. House Bill 2557 • Sponsored by Representative GREENLICK, Senator GELSER; • Representatives BARNHART, FREDERICK, VEGA PEDERSON, WILLIAMSON (Presession filed.) • Passed Senate 5.26.15 @ 20-8 • Passed House 5.28.16 @ 51-7 • Signed by Governor Brown on 6.10.15 • Effective January 1, 2016 • .

  35. OPPORTUNITY, ACCESS, CHOICE Ted Wenk Staff Attorney Disability Rights Oregon ted@droregon.org 503-243-2081 x 217 www.droregon.org

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