IV. Department of
Corrections
07/28/2017
The Oregon Department of Corrections
(DOC) works with Department of Human Services (DHS) to assist persons transitioning
out of the Oregon prison system into the community who need benefits provided
by the Department.
Persons leaving the state prison system
are treated like any other potentially eligible consumer and are screened for
Medicaid, SNAP, and service benefits with the primary difference being they
will have a delayed eligibility start date to match their release date.
This information applies to persons
leaving the Oregon State Department of Corrections prison system only and does
not include anyone released from county jails.
A.
Re-entry and placement teams
Moving
a consumer from a prison facility is very similar to any other community
placement but does involve different groups of people. A designated team of
staff in each of the groups will be involved with the eligibility and community
placement for this facility group.
To
assist with an overview of the work and who is involved, both a spreadsheet and
flowcharts have been created; see below for explanation of the teams listed.
The teams listed on
the flowcharts and spreadsheet are:
·
DOC: Department of
Corrections. DOC acts as the authorized rep for the consumer until release;
·
DOC5517/APD: Central Office Team
which works directly with the DOC for the initial request for benefits;
·
CCDU: Collaborative
Disability Determination Unit. CDDU receives referrals directly form DOC for
potential GA eligibility;
·
Assess Office: The local office
nearest the prison where the consumer is residing which is responsible for
assessing the applicant - see chart
below;
·
Rev’g Office: The local office where
the consumer will be returned or placed following release.
Designated
staff at APD Central Office, DOC, and field offices have specific roles to
ensure the success of the DOC re-entry process.
1.
Department of
Corrections (DOC)
For
the re-entry project, persons who are released from the Department of
Corrections (DOC) must be placed in the same county where they were sentenced.
If there is no placement in the county, or it is more appropriate to place them
elsewhere in the state due to available supports, the DOC may action to
have a the release location changed.
Prior
to release, the DOC completes an application for benefits for the person who is
transitioning into the community, acting as the authorized representative DOC staff
forwards the application to the appropriate, designated staff.
·
DOC
will not complete a SNAP only application but will provide information about
locating an office following release.
Medical
staff at the DOC evaluate each person prior to their release to determine if
they are potentially eligible for Medicaid or service benefits. DOC has an
assessment process and reviews medical records for each person to assist in the
determination, The DOC assessment does not use the same criteria as the APD
assessment and the conclusions may not be the same.
Application
without a request for services are sent to Central Office for an eligibility
determination then forwarded to the appropriate local office
·
DOC
staff work with the inmate to complete either a 539A if the person is aged or
has a disability or a 7210 if they person is under 65 and has no declared
disability;
·
If
the inmate who is releasing requests services or benefits, regardless of their
documented medical history, DOC forwards a 539A to APD Central Office;
·
Applications
forwarded to APD are sent to a designated email box DOC5517.
Medicaid
and service applications are forwarded with all available medical records. The
DOC will work with DHS to obtain additional records, if needed.
·
Note: If the applicant had Social Security
benefits prior to incarceration, or are now eligible for benefits due to age,
the DOC will assist with the process to apply for or restart Social Security
benefits prior to release.
On
receipt of an application for benefits, staff at Central Office will complete a
financial eligibility determination for all benefits and open a case in Oregon
ACCESS.
·
Central
Office staff will take all standard actions to determine eligibility including
pending for missing information;
·
Complete
case narration is added to Oregon ACCESS with the status and actions taken by Central
Office staff.
If the
applicant is financially eligible and requests services, Central Office will
forward all materials received from the DOC, including the application, to the
office which is closest to the prison where the applicant resides.
Referrals
will come from the DOC5517 email box and be sent to the previously designated
contact in the local branch.
·
Note: All inquiries
related to the DOC referrals should be directed to the DOC5517 email box.
APD
Central Office will hold the case in branch 5517 until the consumer is
released. Upon release the case will be transferred to the branch where the
consumer will be placed or reside.
AAA
and APD field staff which are closest to the prison where the applicant lives
prior to re-entry to the community must act on the referral from Central Office
and schedule a service assessment in the prison.
·
The
materials received from Central Office/DOC5517 includes information on who to
contact to set up entry to the prison facility;
·
Local
offices should designate a case manager as the primary contact to complete
facility assessments;
·
Designated
staff will need to pass a background check prior to being granted entry;
·
In
addition to the primary contact, local offices are encouraged to designate a
back-up contact and have them approved for entry.
The
local office which is responsible for completing the assessment is also
responsible for working with the branch where the applicant will be released.
·
The
referral will also include information on where the applicant will need to be
placed based on their county of sentencing.
Below
is full list of the State prisons from which an applicant might release, their
location, and the office which is closest to that location. Most re-entry releases will take place from one of the Salem area locations, but
could occur from any of the facilities.
Name
|
Location
|
Local office
|
Coffee Creek
Correctional Facility
|
Wilsonville
|
0310, Canby
|
Columbia River
Correctional Institution
|
Portland
|
2818, NE Portland
|
Deer Ridge
Correctional Institution
|
Madras
|
1612, Madras
|
Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institution
|
Pendleton
|
3011, Pendleton
|
Mill Creek
Correctional Facility
|
Salem
|
2411, Salem
|
Oregon State
Correctional Institution
|
Salem
|
2411, Salem
|
Oregon State
Penitentiary
|
Salem
|
2411, Salem
|
Powder River
Correctional Facility
|
Baker City
|
0111, Baker City
|
Santiam
Correctional Institution
|
Salem
|
2411, Salem
|
Shutter Creek
Correctional Institution
|
North Bend
|
0611, North Bend
|
South Fork Forest
Camp
|
Tillamook
|
2911, Tillamook
|
Snake River
Correctional Institution
|
Ontario
|
2311, Ontario
|
Two Rivers Correctional
Institution
|
Umatilla
|
3011, Pendleton
|
Warner Creek
Correctional Facility
|
Lakeview
|
1811, Klamath Falls
|
A
designated team in the OHP processing center receive 7210 applications for MAGI
only cases and MAGI with services applications and process for Medicaid
eligibility.
OHP
communicates directly with the DOC team who inform Central Office of the
decision if the MAGI case also has a services request. APD does not have
involvement in MAGI only cases.
Referrals to the local offices should be
acted on quickly as it can take longer than expected to set up a visit to the
prison.
Additionally,
some applicants will have challenges to finding appropriate placements in the
community and may require either a referral to the APD Complex Case team or the
MED team.
As
much as possible, please follow the timelines indicated. Activities such as
placement continue until resolved.
120 days from release:
·
Case
is referred to APD Central Office by DOC;
o
DOC
will determine if the consumer had a prior Social Security Administration (SSA)
benefit. If they did, DOC will either complete paperwork with them to
reactivate or reapply for the benefits;
o
If
there was no prior SSA benefit but the consumer is now potentially eligible,
DOC will help them apply.
·
APD
Central Office will determine financial eligibility or pend for additional
information;
o
DOC5517
will send a referral to the local office where the assessment is required
immediately after determining the consumer eligible.
·
Local
assessing office will contact the DOC to set a date to complete the assessment.
90 days from release:
·
Assessing
office updates service eligibility in Oregon ACCESS and begins transition plan;
o
Assessing
office must involve the office where the consumer will be served, if it is
different;
o
Refer
the case to MED or Complex Case as needed;
·
APD
Central Office specialized teams such as MED or Complex Case will become
involved to assist with transition and placement as needed.
60 days from release:
·
If
the consumer is potentially eligible for the GA benefits, DOC will refer the
case to CDDU;
·
DOC
will monitor for any changes to the release date.
30 days from release
·
DOC
send OHP a 7210 for MAGI eligible consumers;
·
APD
Central Office narrates MAGI determination;
·
Assessing
office will confirm with APD Central Office they have completed all assessment
activities and a warm hand-off with the receiving office.
14 days from release
·
Receiving
office will confirm the placement with APD Central Office.
·
DOC
will confirm the placement address and appropriateness with parole and
probation to check for any issues based on release requirements.
Release date
·
DOC
emails APD Central Office of a successful release;
·
APD
Central Office opens and transfers the case in Oregon ACCESS to the office
where the consumer will be served;
·
Case
manager in the receiving office takes over the case.
There
are several known challenges with the DOC community re-entry activity. As
much as possible, they are addressed below. Local staff are encouraged to
contact the DOC5517 email box should other non-consumer specific challenges be
identified.
1.
Delayed referrals to
the local office
A delayed referral
causes the need for a rush at the local office and across the community
re-entry team.
While every effort is
made to prevent delays in getting applications and referrals very close to the
consumer’s release date, it does happen occasionally. Common causes may be:
·
The
DOC was not able to get an application to the APD Central Office timely. It is
difficult to guess why this happens, but some reasons might be:
o
The
consumer might have changed their mind about applying requiring an application
to be completed very close to their release date; or
o
There
may have been a question about the consumer’s release date; or
o
The
DOC re-entry team was not informed of the release date due to an internal
process.
·
The
application was pended for verification causing the eligibility determination
to be delayed.
2.
Essential medical
records are not included
The DOC forwards all
the medical records they have at the time of referral to APD Central
Office but the records may be incomplete for our purposes.
Offices completing an
assessment may need additional records for placement or referral to MED. If
this is the case, contact DOC5517 with detailed information and APD Central
Office will work with the consumer to determine where the records might be and
get the records forwarded.
3.
Required placement is
not in the area
Legislation specific
to the community re-entry project requires every effort be made to locate or
create a community placement in the county where the consumer applicant was
sentenced. This could be because of limited availability, the need for a
specialized placement which is either filled or not in the county, or due to
the nature of the consumer’s criminal conviction.
Before concluding
there is no placement of any kind in the required area, please speak with APD
Central Office and refer the case to the APD Complex Case Team.
·
The
local office is required to make the referral to The APD Complex Case Team,
just as with any other consumer.
If, after taking required
action, it is determined there is an appropriate placement in another area of
the state, APD Central Office can work with the DOC to request a waiver of the
release area.
·
A waiver for the area of release cannot be requested
solely based on undesirability of the consumer.
4.
Medical cannot start
on the release date
If the release date
for causes a problem with activating the medical benefits on the date of
release and they have an emergent need, please let APD Central Office know as soon as possible.
The DOC will release
the consumer with a thirty (30) day supply of all current prescriptions,
including oxygen. DOC will also provide basic durable medical equipment such as
a walker or a wheelchair if the consumer has required these items while in the
prison.
If there is a need
beyond this, and the local office is not able to locate what is needed, APD
Central Office will work with the local office and DOC to try to find what is
needed to release the consumer safely.
5.
The release date is
moved back (delayed)
A small group of
consumers may have a delayed release date for a variety of reasons set by the
court.
The initial release
date given to APD and communicated to the field offices is the release date,
for all activity. If the initial release is moved to a delayed release, DOC will alert APD Central Office as soon as
possible and that information will be communicated to the field.
A delayed release
may, depending on when the change is known, necessitate starting placement
activities again.