Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1)
Individuals regulated by Division 175 of Chapter 414 have the following rights
and the right to be informed of them:
(a) The
right to information about the ERDC program administered by the
Department.
(b) The right to
confidentiality for individually identifiable information to the extent
provided under federal and state law, including the administrative rules of the
Department.
(c) The right, at any
time, to obtain the standard form for requesting a hearing.
(d) The right to request a hearing to the
extent provided in OAR 414-175-0095 or OAR 414-175-0096.
(e) The right to request and receive an
application to apply for the ERDC program in paper or electronic
format.
(f) The right to have a
decision on eligibility made within the timelines set forth in OAR
414-175-0005.
(g) The right to
apply for and receive benefits and services from the Department and its
contractors, grantees, agents, and providers of services who receive payments
from the Department without discrimination on the basis of race, color,
national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or political
beliefs.
(h) The right to
courteous, fair, and dignified treatment by Department personnel, including
personnel carrying out functions on behalf of the Department, and to file a
complaint with the Department about such personnel conduct or customer service
to the extent provided in OAR 407-005-0100 to 407-005-0120.
(i) The right to file a complaint with the
Department about discrimination or unfair treatment as provided in Procedure
DHS-010-005-01, "Filing a Individual Complaint or Report of Discrimination" or
OAR 407-005-0030.
(2) To
be eligible for benefits, individuals must do all of the following:
(a) Provide true, complete, and accurate
information required to determine eligibility and verify that information, to
the extent permitted by their physical and mental condition, or authorize the
branch office to obtain verification.
(b) Comply with the eligibility requirements
of the program for which they are requesting or receiving benefits.
(c) Report within 10 calendar days any
changes that could affect their eligibility for benefits.
(d) Accept social services that are
court-ordered or related to a case plan.
(e) Cooperate with case reviews by providing
requested information and verification.
(f) Complete the application process or
inform the branch office of their decision to withdraw the application for
program benefits.
(g) Share these
responsibilities with a spouse who resides in the same household.
(3) Release of Information to the
Individual
(a) The Department must make the
information in a case record of an individual available to the following people
within the limits described in this rule:
(A)
Anyone in the filing group.
(B)
Anyone authorized by the primary person or by a person in the filing
group.
(b) The primary
person and filing group members may have access only to an individual's
information that is related to the time during which they had that position in
the case. The person can appoint an authorized representative whose access to
an individual's information covers only that same period.
(c) The "minimum necessary" standard as
described in OAR 410-014-0040 is extended to limit the sharing of individually
identifying information by the Department about one member of a filing group
with either another member of the filing group or anyone authorized by another
member of the filing group.
(d)
Except for HIV information, case record information may be requested by the
individual and released to the individual by telephone. The individual must
satisfy the Oregon Department of Human Services branch office as to the
individual's identity.
(e) Except
as provided in this section (3) and in OAR 410-014-0030(6), information
obtained from a third party that is part of the case record of the individual
is available to the individual.
(f)
The Department may withhold from an individual information obtained from a
confidential informant, including the identity of the informant, if all of the
following are true:
(A) The information was
submitted to the Oregon Department of Human Services in confidence.
(B) The information was not required by law
to be submitted.
(C) The
information can reasonably be considered confidential.
(D) The Oregon Department of Human Services
has obliged itself not to disclose the information.
(E) The Oregon Department of Human Services
is not using the withheld information in a contested case hearing in which the
individual is a party.
(F) The
public interest would suffer if the information were disclosed.
(g) Subject to OAR 407-003-0010:
(A) A individual, an authorized
representative, or a personal representative (as defined at 410-014-0000(32),
including an attorney who represents the individual on a matter before the
Oregon Department of Human Services) may request a copy of information from the
individual file at no cost once every 12 months. If the individual, authorized
representative, or personal representative requests another copy of the same
information already provided more frequently than once every 12 months, the
Oregon Department of Human Services branch office may impose a reasonable,
cost-based fee.
(B) If an
authorized third party who is not an authorized representative or personal
representative requests an individual's records, fees may be assessed for
accessing stored records, extracting filed matter, duplication of records, or
other costs necessary to releasing requested information.
(C) A branch office may establish additional,
reasonable fees to cover extraordinary costs of duplicating records, making
extensive searches, or preparing written summaries of records.
(D) At the option of the Oregon Department of
Human Services branch office, fee assessment may be waived.
(h) An individual designated by
the manager must be present while the individual or the authorized third party
has access to the case record. No one except an Oregon Department of Human
Services employee is allowed to remove any material from the case record.
Subject to payment of any cost-based fee assessed by an Oregon Department of
Human Services branch office, consistent with OAR 407-003-0010 and this section
(3), the branch office will provide the individual examining the case record a
copy of any portion of the case record that the individual is entitled to
examine.
(4) Except for
health, treatment, and domestic violence information, a verbal authorization
from the individual is permitted to allow verbal release of case record
information specified by the individual to third parties. Any such verbal
authorization to release information to a third party is valid for a period of
30 days from the date the authorization is given verbally, unless a shorter
time period is given.
(5) Release
of Information to Law Enforcement Officers
(a)
The Department may provide an individual's information to a law enforcement
officer in any of the following situations:
(A) The law enforcement officer is involved
in carrying out public assistance or medical assistance laws, or any
investigation, criminal or civil proceedings connected with administering the
ERDC program.
(B) A Department
employee, including non-Department employees performing functions delegated by
the Department, may disclose information from personal knowledge that does not
come from the individual's interaction with ODHS or the Department.
(C) The disclosure is authorized by statute
or administrative rule.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of
this rule, the Department, including Department employees and non-Department
employees performing functions delegated by the Department, may give an
individual's current address, Social Security number, and photo to a law
enforcement officer if the law enforcement officer makes the request in the
course of official duty, supplies the individual's name, and states that the
individual:
(A) Is a fugitive felon or is
violating parole or probation; or
(B) Has information that is necessary for the
officer to conduct official duties of the officer, and the location or
apprehension of the individual is within the officer's official
duties.
(c) If domestic
violence has been identified in the household, subsection (b) of this rule does
not authorize the release of information about a victim of domestic violence
unless a member of the household is either wanted as a fugitive felon or is
violating probation or parole.
(d)
For purposes of this section, a fugitive felon is a person fleeing to avoid
prosecution or custody for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, that would
be classified as a felony
(e) For
purposes of this section, a law enforcement officer is an employee of the
Oregon State Police, a county sheriff's department, or a municipal police
department, whose job duties include arrest authority.
(6) In the absence of a specific and current
individual's authorization that covers the applicable information and
identifies the recipient, the release of an individual's information to Service
Providers and Legal Bodies is allowable as follows:
(a) The Department employees, including
non-Department employees performing functions delegated by the Department, may
release to service providers information necessary for accurate billing of
services provided to individuals.
(b) The following individual information may
be released to the individual's child care providers:
(A) The program for which the individual is
eligible.
(B) The amount of the
Department child care payment.
(C)
The individual's copayment amount.
(D) Reasons for a delay in payment, but only
information that is specific to the reason for the delay.
(c) The Department may not disclose any
information identifying any individual by name or address to any committee,
advisory board, legislative body, or individual member of such committee,
board, or body.
(d) Except for
social security numbers, health, treatment, and domestic violence information,
the Department may disclose the minimum necessary information about an
individual to a staff member in the office of a member of the Oregon state
legislature or United States Congress who has been asked by the individual to
review an action taken by the Department.
(e) Court-appointed special advocate (CASA)
volunteers who have been appointed to a specific child are authorized to view
information about the child. All other information must be removed from the
case file.
(f) The Department may
release an individual's information in a judicial proceeding if at least one of
the following is true:
(A) The proceedings are
directly connected with administering the ERDC program.
(B) A judge orders the release of the
information.
(g) When
appearing before the court in a judicial proceeding where the proceeding is not
directly connected with administering the ERDC program, a Department employee,
including non-Department employees performing functions delegated by the
Department, provides the presiding judge with copies of the state statutes
relating to confidentiality of an individual's records (such as ORS
411.117,
411.320, and
412.074). The employee requests
the court's guidance about testifying under the statutes.
(7) Release of Information on Child Support
and Paternity Cases. In the absence of a specific and current individual's
authorization that covers the applicable information and identifies the
recipient, the Department may release to the Department of Justice, Division of
Child Support, the names of the alleged father, the obligor, and the obligee,
the amount of support ordered, and the amount of current and past due support
owed at any given time from its electronic files.
(a) "Alleged father" means any male who has
been named as a possible father of a child for whom paternity has not been
established or has been contested.
(b) "Obligee" means a caretaker parent or
custodian, spouse, former spouse or other dependent person for whose benefit a
court or hearing officer has ordered payment of support.
(c) "Obligor" means any person who has been
ordered by a court or hearing officer to make payments for the support of a
child or a caretaker parent or custodian, spouse, former spouse or other
dependent person.
(8)
Disclosure of an Individual's Information
(a)
The Department may disclose the minimum necessary information without the
individual's authorization for purposes directly connected with:
(A) Administering the public assistance,
medical assistance, and SNAP program laws, except for social security numbers,
health, treatment, and domestic violence information.
(B) Any investigation, prosecution, or
criminal or civil proceeding conducted in connection with administering the
ERDC program.
(C) Any legally
authorized audit or review by a governmental entity conducted in connection
with administering the ERDC program.
(b) An individual's information, other than
health or treatment information, may be exchanged with other governmental or
private, non-profit agencies to only the extent necessary to assist applicants
or recipients of public assistance, medical assistance, or SNAP benefits to
access and receive other governmental or private, non-profit services that will
benefit or serve the applicant or recipient. Reasonable efforts must be made to
obtain applicant or recipient authorization in advance.
(c) An individual's information may be
disclosed without the individual's authorization for purposes directly
connected with foster care and adoption assistance programs under Title IV-E of
the Social Security Act.
(d)
Notwithstanding any rule in this division, individual information-- other than
health or treatment information - may be disclosed to an Oregon attorney who
represents that the individual if both of the following requirements are met:
(A) The attorney states that he or she
currently is representing the individual.
(B) The attorney states that the individual
has authorized disclosure of the individual's information to the
attorney.
(9)
Nondiscrimination in Determining Eligibility
(a) The Department will determine eligibility
without discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin,
disability, political beliefs, age, or religious creed.
(b) The following acts of discrimination on
grounds of race, color, sex, political beliefs, age, religious creed or
national origin are specifically prohibited:
(A) Denying an individual any service,
financial aid, or other benefit provided under any program.
(B) Providing any service, financial aid, or
other benefit to an individual that is different, or is provided in a different
way, from that provided to others under the program, unless such action is
necessary to provide individuals with disabilities with aids, benefits or
services that are as effective as those provided to others.
(C) Subjecting an individual to segregation
or separate treatment in any way related to receipt of any service, financial
aid, or other program benefit.
(D)
Restricting an individual in any way from any advantage or privilege enjoyed by
others receiving any service, financial aid, or other benefit under any
program.
(E) Treating an individual
differently from others in determining whether they satisfy any admission,
enrollment, quota, eligibility, membership or other requirement or condition
individuals must meet to be provided any service, financial aid, or other
benefit provided under any program.
(F) Denying an individual an opportunity to
participate in any program or afford them an opportunity to do so that is
different from that afforded others under the program.
(G) Denying a person the opportunity to
participate as a member of a planning or advisory body that is an integral part
of the program.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
329A.500
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
329A.500