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APD Safety Initiatives

Putting safety first

The Office of Aging and People with Disabilities (APD) prioritizes safety as essential to the well-being of the people we serve.

Safety improvementsQuestions? Contact us

Safety improvements

APD is working on improvements to safety and regulatory oversight. These improvements are both short- and long-term. Three of our units are involved in this work:

  • Licensing and Regulatory Oversight
  • Adult Protective Services
  • Safety and Serious Incidents (includes emergency response)

Initiatives and projects

Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) was hired to conduct an independent assessment of the licensing and regulatory unit that oversees long-term care providers.

Through APD programs, older adults and people with disabilities who have Medicaid in-home supports can get emergency kits and power stations​.

  • Emergency kits include things like flashlights, blankets, first aid items and food. 
  • Power stations are portable, rechargeable batteries that can be used when the power goes out. 

​APD leaders participate in a national learning collaborative with the Center for Health Care Strategies​. APD was accepted into the collaborative along with four other states. The collaborative:

  • Researches best practices for ownership transparency and financial reporting
  • Identifies policy and practice recommendations. This can help Oregon meet new federal regulati​ons and communicate with the public.

APD is recruiting to fill new positions on the licensing inspection team.​

  • This team does surveys for community-based providers. This includes assisted living and residential care facilities.
  • The new positions will assess if a facility has enough staff to meet the needs of its current residents. A lack of qualified staff can lead to safety issues.
  • ​Positions include a compliance specialist and a supe​rvisory role​.

Complaint investigation triage system

APD developed a triage system for complaints in assisted living and residential care facilities based on the seriousness of the complaint. Previously, investigations for these facilities were based on the date a complaint was made. A similar triage system is already being used in nursing facilities.

Unannounced visits to licensed providers

APD’s executive leaders make unannounced in-person visits to long-term care providers. This allows them to see operations firsthand. These visits complement routine inspections, abuse and complaint investigations.

  • Visits are made to three to five licensed facilit​ies each month
  • Leaders speak with residents and staff
  • Visits are made to facilities with poor regulatory compliance records along with those providing quality service

​​Responding to suspicious deaths

APD updated its practices for responding to suspicious deaths in licensed facilities. As part of this change, APD staff now conduct initial review within 24 hours of a report.​

Fatality reviews

Leaders meet quarterly to review cases in which someone relying on a licensed setting or other formalized supports, dies due to an incident. They identify potential areas of improvement to prevent fatalities.​​

Implementing Senate Bill 739

Work underway updates regulations for adult foster homes as well as community-based care pro​viders. Community-based providers are assisted living and residential care facilities, including those with memory care.

  • Changes for Adult Foster Homes
  • Changes for Community-Based Care Facilities
  • Changes for Memory Care Communities​

Learn more about other improvements made to strengthen oversight of licensed long-term care in this overview​.

Web page for updates

​APD added a web page dedicated to licensing and regulatory updates​ for long-term care facilities and adult foster homes. The page:

  • Lists facilities with restrictions on new admissions due to compliance problems
  • Lists facilities requir​ing additional monitoring
  • Complements licensing and enforcement information available on the long-term care compliance website​.​

Website for Licensed Long-Term Care Settings Search​

The website was updated to:

  • Make it easier for the public to navigate.
  • Provide clear delineation between the types of regulatory information
  • Include a glossary for terms used in compliance and other reports available on the website and
  • Add links to APD’s Quality Measurement Reports for assisted living and residential care facilities. These reports include summaries of survey results on how well a facility is meeting residents’ needs in a variety of areas.​​

​APD leaders from all safety-related units now meet twice a week to review APD's response. They look at how APD handles serious incidents involving older adults and people with disabilities. This includes:

  • Any injury in a licensed setting - or involving a homecare worker that is paid with Medicaid funding - that results in hospitalization.
  • Suspicious deaths reported to APD that involve a person living in the community or a licensed care setting.
  • Alleged sexual abuse.
  • Elopements from a licensed memory care setting or if an individual's care plan required support when they left their home.

APD is creating better training tools to help staff apply new rules and ensure consistent practices across the state. The training will include changes made during the 2025 Legislative Session. These tools will also be used to train new hires. 

At the same time, APD is making its guidance clearer on how staff can apply regulatory tools for assisted living and residential care facilities. These tools are listed in the Compliance Framework Guide​.

​As part of the budgeting process for the next biennium, APD made a proposal to add resources to its licensing and regulatory oversight unit. The proposal, included in the Governor's Recommended Budget​, ​​calls for:

  • Nineteen​ more ​positions in APD's licensing and regulatory oversight unit - These positions can provide more oversight for newly licensed providers. This ensures residents' needs are met and required safety protocols are followed.
  • Resources to support prevention and identify a provider's licensing concerns earlier - Prevention gives APD's licensing team an opportunity to correct problems before they harm someone.