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MacLaren Intake Guide

Your Young Person Was Sent to MacLaren…What Happens Next?

Case Coordinator/Camp Counselor

The Case Coordinator or Camp Counselor is your main contact on the unit. They can help you:

  • Get approved for and schedule visitation or video visits
  • Connect your youth with their lawyer for appointments
  • Get medical updates
  • Answer general questions about living unit life

 
This person is part of your multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting and will help your youth set goals and meet them. Your youth's case coordinator will change when they go to a different living unit.

Living Unit Manager

The Living Unit Manager (LUM) is the person you can contact with serious concerns about your youth related to the unit or facility.

This could also be a Program Director, Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Camp Director.

After-Hours Concerns

Leave a message for the case coordinator or camp counselor, and they will return your call.

In Case of an Emergency

If you need to reach the facility after business hours, call the general phone for the facility.

To find the phone number, visit the Contact Us page.

The general facility phone is a dispatch that will get you in touch with the unit.

Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations (OIIR)

This team oversees family engagement and provides youth and families with services that meet the needs of their culture, including:

  • Cultural support groups
  • Cultural events
  • Interpreter services

 
They have team members dedicated to African American, Latino, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ services, plus general family services.

Phone: 971-304-5751

Progress Review Team (MDT):

Every youth at OYA has a progress review team, known as an MDT. During intake, this team talks with the youth about their situation and recommends a living unit and facility that will best serve their needs.

The MDT may include the youth's case coordinator, juvenile parole/probation officer, members of the OIIR, school staff, a mental health professional, and other OYA support staff.

Families are an important part of the MDT, and we encourage you to participate. This is your chance to learn about how your youth is doing and talk with staff about how to help your youth set goals and meet them.

Your youth's case coordinator will contact you soon about the first MDT meeting.​


Phone Calls

Youth cannot receive phone calls. If you have an emergency and need to reach your youth, contact their case coordinator for help.

Youth can make phone calls each week. All calls are free.

They may get to make additional calls as needed if their case coordinator approves. They may only call people who are approved by their MDT.


Video Visits

We also offer free video calls using Microsoft Teams. You must be approved by your youth's multidisciplinary team and complete a Request to Visit form. Ask your young person's case coordinator for details.


In-Person Visits

Youth living in Noble may have certain people visit. Youth in Maple may not have any visitors until they leave Maple.

All visitors must get approval from their youth's MDT and complete a Request to Visit form. Learn more on the MacLaren Visitation page.


Mail

Youth may send and receive letters. You can also send them stamps. However, they cannot receive packages while at intake. If they do not have money to buy stamps, we give them up to three per week.

MacLaren staff open and inspect all mail to make sure it does not contain anything that threatens facility security, safety, or order. This is to keep all youth and staff safe.

DO NOT SEND these things. They will be rejected:

  • Plans for escape, committing a crime, or violating facility rules
  • Sexually explicit material
  • Contraband items, including weapons, explosives, medications, electronic items, or photos with chemical substances on the back
  • Mail from other incarcerated people, including other youth at OYA facilities, unless approved in advance by the superintendent
  • Mail from the youth's victims, unless approved in advance by the superintendent
  • Publications that are harmful to a youth's reformation
  • Mail with attachments or items glued, taped, or otherwise attached to the envelope or contents, such as stickers

 

Addressing Mail

Provide a return address including your full name and address or we will reject the mail.

Addressed to:

Youth First and Last Name
MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility
2630 N Pacific Hwy
Woodburn, OR 97071

Note: Write your youth's full legal name, not a nickname. This helps us make sure the mail gets to the right person.


Sending Money to Youth

Each youth at MacLaren has an account that approved people can add money to. However, they cannot use the money until they leave intake. You may not give money directly to your youth. Staff also cannot give money to your youth for you.

You can add money to your young person's account in person using the envelopes at the MacLaren gatehouse. You can also mail in a secure payment. We do not recommend mailing cash.​


What Is Intake?

  • All youth go to intake first after a court sends them to Oregon Youth Authority facilities.
  • We do tests, called assessments to figure out their physical health, mental health, education, and treatment needs.
  • Youth usually stay at intake for about 30 to 45 days before moving to their next living unit or facility.

Day 1 Process

1. Youth get to call one family member.

The youth chooses who they call. During the call, one of our staff will share information about visiting and answer questions.

2. One of the first people youth meet is a nurse.

The nurse will:

  • Check their basic physical health
  • Do drug and alcohol tests
  • Review their medications, if they have any
  • Figure out basic health needs
  • Ask them about their medical history

3. Youth receive a Mental Health screening.

Youth meet with a qualified mental health professional. This person checks their basic mental health.

4. Youth are assigned to an Intake Living Unit.

We assign youth to an intake living unit. MacLaren has two intake units, Maple and Noble. Each unit houses 16 youth.

1. Youth in Noble can start having visitors. 

Youth in Maple may not have visitors until they move to another unit. However, youth in both units can have video visits. Ask your youth's case coordinator for details about how to become an approved visitor.

2. Youth can receive mail and make more phone calls. 

See the “How to Contact Your Youth" section for additional details.

3. We do a full health check on each youth. 

This includes:

  • Physical examination
  • Dental exam
  • Hearing test
  • Vision test
  • Testing for sexually transmitted diseases
  • Full drug and alcohol screening, if needed

​4. We check each youth's educational needs. 

We look at how much school they have finished and what they still need. We then create a learning plan. Youth begin attending school right away.

Lord High School:

• Located on the MacLaren campus
• Run by the Willamette Education Service District
• Classes happen on unit or in the school building
• Has a principal, teachers, and other support staff, just like a regular public school
• All youth in our custody are required to work toward their high school diploma or GED. When they finish, they can go to college classes or job training programs.
• Lord High School also provides special education services and students are able to have an individualized educational plan (IEP

5. A psychologist checks each youth's mental health. 

If needed, your young person may see a psychiatrist for treatment and medications.

6. Youth begin going to treatment groups. 

The types of treatment they receive will depend on their needs. At intake, youth start by learning:

• How to build skills and set goals to be successful in the future
• How OYA works and opportunities available to them
• How to work on their mental health with the help of a professional
• How to connect with their religion or culture as they work toward growth

7. Youth participate in regular daily activities. 

​This includes:

• School
• Treatment groups
• Meals. MacLaren provides youth with all meals, drinks, and snacks
• Exercise and recreational activities

​OYA Facilities

OYA operates several close custody correctional and transitional facilities across Oregon, including:

  • MacLaren (Woodburn)
  • Oak Creek and Jackie Winters Transition Program (Albany)
  • Tillamook Youth Correctional Facility and Camp Tillamook (Tillamook)
  • Rogue Valley (Grants Pass)
  • Eastern Oregon (Burns)
  • Camp Riverbend (La Grande)
  • Camp Florence (Florence)

 

What Happens After Intake?

1. Soon, your young person will have an Progress Review Meeting (MDT). 

S​ee the “Who to Contact About Your Youth" for details on the Progress Review Team (MDT). The team makes a recommendation about which facility the youth should go to next, based on the youth's needs.

2. OYA's Intake Review Committee will make the final decision about where your young person should go next. 

This is based on the MDT recommendation.

3. Youth are placed on a waiting list for their next living unit. 

​They move out of intake when there is an opening in their next unit. They will either stay at MacLaren or go to one of our other facilities.

4. Your young person will move to their new living unit. 

For security reasons, we are not able to tell you exactly when your youth will move. However, you'll get a call once they have arrived at their new facility.

Once they leave intake, they will have more opportunities for treatment, education, job training programs, and earning privileges. Each facility offers different programs.

5. We give yout​​​h supplies. 

While they are at intake, they can only have the items MacLaren gives them:

• Bed and bedding

• Clothing: gray polo shirt, sweatpants, sweatshirt, T-shirts, shorts, boxer shorts, socks, rain jacket

• Shoes: athletic shoes and sandals

• Hygiene products: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, comb

• Treatment folder

• Journal

• Religious items (only if they want it)

6. Youth move into their intake living unit. 

They will have a single sleeping room. It's more private than a cell and does not have metal bars. They share the bathroom and other areas with all the youth on their unit.​

PHD stands for positive human development. It's the main approach we use in taking care of youth.

PHD focuses on creating positive environments to help youth develop their natural talents through education, job training, and skill-building. Youth are encouraged to set high expectations for themselves and their peers, and to hold themselves and others accountable.

​The goal is to help youth build the skills and confidence needed for long-term success.

Commonly used acronyms:

CC: Case Coordinator (for camps, this position is a Camp Counselor)

This person is one of your main contacts at our facility to learn about how your youth is doing. Each living unit has its own case coordinator. A youth's case coordinator changes whenever they go to a different living unit, and their family is notified about this change.

DEI: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

One of OYA's priorities. We are working to better serve youth and families from different backgrounds, and to make sure they receive equitable and appropriate services.

GLC: Group Life Coordinator

This person coordinates activities and supports youth in their daily life in the living units. There are many GLCs working at each facility.

IRC: Intake Review Committee

This committee makes decisions about which unit and facility your youth should go to after intake, based on your youth's needs and the recommendation of their Multidisciplinary Team.

JPPO: Juvenile Parole and Probation Officer

As soon as a court commits a youth to our custody, we assign a JPPO to their case. This person is one of your main contacts throughout your youth's entire time in OYA custody. JPPOs do not work in facilities.

Don't know who your youth's JPPO is? Contact the OYA field office in the county where your youth was adjudicated or convicted. This information can be found on the Contact Us​ page.

JPPOs will help you and your youth plan when your youth transitions to a community placement or back to the community.

LUM: Living Unit Manager

This person supervises the staff and programs on the living units and makes sure the unit environment is supportive for staff and youth.

MDT: Progress Review Team

Every youth at OYA has a progress review team to help them set goals and plan their time at OYA. 

OIIR: Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations

This office oversees family engagement and provides youth and families with services that meet the needs of their culture, including youth support groups, cultural groups and events, and interpreters.

PHD: Positive Human Development

OYA's approach to working with youth. See the PHD At a Glance flyer.

PSO: Professional Standards Office

This OYA office investigates reports of abuse and works with facilities to address complaints.

QMHP, or Q: Qualified Mental Health Professional

This person coordinates treatment for your youth and makes sure they get the services they need.

SDC: Skills Development Coordinator

This is one of many people who help youth develop skills around regulating emotions, solving problems in a positive way, and managing conflicts.

YCF: Youth Correctional Facility

Also known as a close-custody facility. Secure facility run by OYA that provides housing, treatment, and educational and vocational services for youth committed to our legal or physical custody.​​

Orientation led by OYA:

We offer monthly virtual orientations for parents and guardians of MacLaren youth at intake. You can meet staff from the facility who are working with your youth and learn about these topics:

• Education and other services for youth
• Our approach to working with youth
• Visiting your youth
• How to be involved with your youth's progress

Orientations happen on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 6 to 8 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. Ask your youth's case coordinator for details.


How to report abuse or file a complaint:

OYA has zero tolerance for abuse of any kind. It does not matter if the abuser is other youth, staff, family members, foster parents, volunteers, or anyone else.

There are several ways you or your youth can report abuse. You can choose the one that makes you the most comfortable:

• Call the OYA hotline: 1-800-315-5440. OYA's Professional Standards Office (PSO) manages the hotline. They investigate all reports of abuse and work with facilities to address complaints. Leave a detailed message and they will return your call.

• Tell any OYA staff member. All OYA staff are required to report abuse.

• Fill out a grievance form. They are available in OYA's field offices, or your youth can find them in their living unit.


What if I think OYA isn't treating my youth or family fairly?

We encourage you to talk with your youth's living unit manager or MacLaren's superintendent. You can also call the hotline, fill out a grievance form, or file a report online: oregon.gov/oya/pso


Other resources:

Monthly Family Newsletters – Updates on education, vocational opportunities, cultural celebrations, and policy and procedures.

Understanding Case Management and Case Management FAQ – Case management is how we support your youth during their time with OYA. Understand the process and how you can be engaged.

Mental Health Resources for Families – Statewide resources including free counseling and support groups​