Oregon caregivers charged with protecting some of the state’s most vulnerable residents want the governor to fire the head of the state’s Department of Human Services.
Hundreds of members represented by two of the state’s largest unions, SEIU and AFSCME, have said they no longer have confidence in Fariborz Pakseresht. In a letter to Gov. Tina Kotek earlier this month, they asked the governor to remove Pakseresht and ensure the agency is run by “an experienced, supportive, and effective director.”
The Oregon Department of Human Services is one of the state’s largest agencies. For years, agency officials have struggled to improve well-documented failures in its child-welfare system and long-term care facilities.
But at the heart of the latest issue is a population that is arguably even more vulnerable: those with developmental and intellectual disabilities. And more specifically, those individuals living in state-owned homes often referred to by state workers as SACU homes, or Stabilization and Crisis Unit homes. These homes are situated along the I-5 corridor from Portland to Eugene and house about 90 people. They are the only state-run homes that serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
FILE - Department of Human Services Director Fariborz Pakseresht testifies in front of the Oregon Senate Committee on Human Services on Oregon foster children in out-of-state facilities on April 11, 2019. Oregon caregivers urge Gov. Tina Kotek to fire Pakseresht over failures in child welfare, long-term care and SACU homes.
Kaylee Domzalski / OPB
Jade McCredy, the state manager at Oregon AFSCME, said until recently that there had been plans to expand the number of SACU homes. These plans, she said, came at a time when staff was raising a litany of concerns about being understaffed, underpaid and working many hours of overtime. In light of those complaints, union members took a vote of no confidence in Pakseresht in 2024.
McCredy said she believes that’s partly why, rather than expanding, the governor’s recommended budget calls for a reduction to the SACU budget. She believes it’s a retaliatory move after the union started raising concerns.
Jake Sunderland, a spokesperson for DHS, said the budget reductions are not retaliatory.
Instead, as he said in an email, the governor has asked the agency to work with the intellectual and developmentally disabled community and workforce to “right-size” the program, and “bring it back to its intended purpose of short-term services and support that help people return to their communities.”
Sunderland said the agency did ask for proposals from home builders last year, but that was only to repair or replace current homes. The state disputed the idea that they had plans to expand.
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A spokesperson for Kotek declined to respond to the union’s request to fire Pakseresht. In a statement provided to OPB this week, the spokesperson said the governor “values the hardworking staff at SACU,” and note that she is working closely with the department to recalibrate the stabilization program.
Ideally, the homes are meant to allow people to enter in crisis and then work to stabilize them and re-integrate them back to other community-based provider homes. That hasn’t always happened, and people are staying for longer periods of time. Rather than the intended 90-day stay, the average stay for adults with complex medical needs is eight years. For some people, these homes are a permanent residence.
The costs are also unsustainable. The average monthly cost per person is $103,000 , which includes rent, utilities, staff and medical costs. Plus, for the some 700 employees who serve the individuals, the monthly overtime costs are about $1.1 million.
Many advocates and politicians agree the goal of moving people into more community-based settings is laudable. But it certainly comes at an interesting time, where the state is struggling across the board to provide adequate housing for people and, even more so, housing for those who have more complex needs.
“If SACU doesn’t exist, those people are homeless,” McCredy said.
Kotek’s proposed budget cut also appeared with no plan in place to create alternative housing for the people currently needing such homes. When asked what would happen to the people currently living in the homes, Dana Hittle, the director of the state’s Office of Developmental Disabilities Services, acknowledged the rollout “is not very transparent. It is not very clear. We have been directed by the governor’s office to create a plan for a plan with the community.”
On Wednesday, a statement from the agency said a plan for next steps would be presented to the governor and the state Legislature this spring.
Former state lawmaker Ed Lindquist testified at a committee hearing where Kotek’s cuts were discussed. Lindquist’s son had lived in the Fairview Training Center, which was a state-run institution for those with developmental and intellectual disabilities that closed more than two decades ago. He said when his son was born, the doctors said he wouldn’t live past 21, but he’s now 60 and living in a SACU home.
When his son first moved into it, he said, it wasn’t meant to be temporary. Once Lindquist and his family tried to move his son to another home and his son almost died.
For him, having his son at one of these homes means he’s safe. The people who work with Lindquist’s son have been with him since he was at Fairview.
“They know (my son). When he has a pain or something is wrong, he can shake his head yes or no, if you ask the right questions. If people don’t know how to ask the right question, you can’t find out how they are doing,” Lindquist said.
People from Disabilities Rights Oregon, a nonprofit that defends the rights of people with disabilities in the state, recently spent time visiting each of the 18 SACU houses. They have been preparing to have a statewide conversation about these homes and agree it is time to consider changes. But they were also surprised by the cuts being proposed and how the process has been rolled out.
“This can’t be about a budget line-item,” said Melissa Roy-Hart, a spokeswoman for the legal rights group. “It has to be about the people.”
