(2) Except as otherwise specifically provided, members of a committee created under this section are not entitled to compensation but, in the discretion of the commission, may be reimbursed from funds available to the commission for actual and necessary travel and other expenses incurred by the members in the performance of official duties in the manner and amount provided in ORS 292.495.
(3)(a) The commission shall establish a Child Welfare Equity Advisory Committee composed of members of the commission, employees of the Department of Human Services who make decisions regarding the removal of children from their homes, current or former foster parents or foster children and other child welfare stakeholders. The commission shall appoint members of the committee in such a manner as to ensure representation from all segments of the child foster care system that are affected by the work of the committee, taking into consideration the geographic, racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the populations receiving child welfare services. A majority of the members of the committee must represent populations disproportionately overrepresented in the child welfare system.
(b) A member of the committee is entitled to compensation and expenses in the manner and amounts provided for in ORS 292.495. Claims for compensation and expenses incurred in performing the functions of the committee shall be paid out of funds appropriated to the commission for that purpose.
(c) A member of the committee shall serve a one-year term, but a member serves at the pleasure of the commission. A member is eligible for reappointment.
(d) The committee shall advise the commission on culturally appropriate child welfare services, including best practices for keeping families intact, ongoing child welfare support services and the equitable provision of child welfare services across populations being served by state agencies, including the department, the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Youth Authority.
(e) The committee shall meet at least once every two months, at times and places fixed by a majority of members of the committee. The department shall provide office space and personnel to assist the committee as requested by the commission.
(f) The committee shall periodically report to the commission. The reports must include recommendations on ways the commission, the department, the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Youth Authority may execute their duties to ensure equitable treatment of populations receiving child welfare services. The reports may include recommendations for changes to policies, procedures, administrative rules or legislation to ensure that the commission and the department are effectively serving:
(A) Racial and ethnic minorities;
(B) People with disabilities;
(C) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other minority gender identity communities; and
(D) Other historically disproportionately overrepresented communities in the child welfare system.
(g) The commission shall take the committee’s recommendations into consideration at the next commission meeting or, if the agenda for the next commission meeting has already been posted at the time the commission receives the committee’s recommendations, at the following commission meeting.
(h) No later than September 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall submit a report, in the manner provided by ORS 192.245, to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly related to human services. The commission, in its discretion, may submit interim reports. The reports submitted under this paragraph must include information on the activities and recommendations of the committee and information on any actions taken by the commission or the department to implement recommendations of the committee. [2021 c.457 §1]
Note: 418.046 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but was not added to or made a part of ORS chapter 418 or any series therein by legislative action. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes for further explanation.