Nine months after it was revealed the state of Oregon was paying millions of dollars to an unlicensed, religious nonprofit to watch some of the state’s most vulnerable children, an internal review by the Oregon Department of Human Services validated concerns from those outside of the agency that there was a lack of oversight and children’s safety and well-being could not be assured.
The internal audit is noteworthy in how rudimentary the recommendations are. The report suggests ODHS officials run background checks on providers before they are placed in homes to watch over vulnerable children. The audit also states more fiscal oversight over such contracts is needed, highlighting one instance where a provider overcharged the state by more than $88,000.
In November, OPB first reported Oregon child welfare officials signed a contract with a Keizer-based nonprofit, Dynamic Life, paying them up to $2,916 per day, for every child or teenager placed in their care. It was a shocking amount, especially compared to the $795 per month the state pays a foster parent.
After OPB wrote about the state’s arrangement in November, the state canceled the contract with Dynamic Life and the arrangement was the subject of legislative hearings.
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People who’ve been through foster care systems, like the Oregon Department of Human Services, are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions later in life, according to a new study.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
The recent audit, released at the end of June, found that the invoicing for the contracts was often muddled. In one instance, Dynamic Life overbilled the state by $19,236. In another, they overcharged by $88,200. The state paid millions of dollars to Dynamic Life in a short period of time. And they weren’t the only organization the state was partnering with to help kids at risk of being placed in hotels. Another one of the providers, LC Beach House, which has ties to Dynamic Life, overbilled by $4,032 and charged the state $45,000 for services that did not appear to be included in any contract, according to the internal audit.
Here is one of the audit’s big takeaways: “Without sufficient oversight of contracts there is no assurance providers can meet the needs of the children in care and ensure their safety,” it states. “In addition to potential harm to children, the agency may continue to suffer reputational harm if these conditions are not corrected. There are also legal and financial risks associated with the lack of oversight for the children in the care of contracted providers.”
Sen. Sara Gelser Blouin, D-Corvallis, who held legislative hearings on the matter, said the audit confirmed what many outside of the agency, including her, had been saying for months, but didn’t answer any of the big questions about accountability or how the misspent money would be recouped.
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“So much missing money,” Gelser Blouin said in an interview on Thursday. “Where is the big outrage we had over designated bottles of Pappy van Winkle?” she added, citing the scandal at the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission with hard-to-buy liquor.
“The lack of energy around this is incredibly concerning.”
Long-term care struggles
Oregon’s struggling child welfare system has been under the spotlight for years. The state recently settled a class-action lawsuit that aimed to improve its trouble-ridden foster care system days before a high-profile trial was set to begin. More recently, its senior services program has been garnering headlines.
After a woman wandered away from a long-term care facility and died of hypothermia, nobody from the ODHS licensing team immediately visited the facility. Finally, after 28 days, they went to inspect the now-shuttered Sandy facility in light of Ki Soon Hyun’s death. When they did, a litany of concerns prompted them to immediately close the facility. They moved 13 of the remaining residents to other facilities ill-equipped to care for them late on a dark, rainy night.
The woman’s death and the state’s poor treatment of the remaining vulnerable residents highlighted systemic failures in how the state cares for vulnerable adults. The governor’s office has called for an independent audit into what led to her death.
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But the governor is trusting that the state’s Department of Human Services will both identify a third-party entity to do the work and pay for it, essentially making them the auditor’s client.
State Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis, who sits on the governor’s commission on senior services, said he’s in favor of an independent audit, but has several questions.
“Who is doing the audit? What’s the oversight? How are we assured it’s going to be independent? I can’t answer those but I can ask the questions,” he said.
Those are particularly important questions given ODHS leadership has historically pushed back when confronted with problems. After the state ombudsman released a report highlighting that the state missed numerous red flags leading to Hyun’s death, ODHS head Fariborz Pakseresht returned a three-page leader noting they didn’t “agree with many of the report’s statements or its representation of the agency’s options.” And after reports of Dynamic Life became public, the head of the state’s Child Welfare program, Aprille Flint-Gerner, told lawmakers the story was factually incorrect, according to multiple sources. When OPB reached out to the state to see if anything needed to be corrected, a Human Services spokesman answered no.
In an email, the governor’s spokeswoman said she trusts that the agency can identify an appropriate entity to offer an independent review. Gov. Tina Kotek said the agency should be “continuously identifying ways to improve the services they provide” and that she has confidence in the agency’s leadership.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A man accused of killing several women and dumping their bodies in the Portland area was arraigned Wednesday on a fifth murder charge.
Jesse Calhoun’s defense attorney entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in a Portland courtroom where victims’ family members were present. The hearing, during which Calhoun remained silent, came after he was indicted last week on the most recent second-degree murder charge over the death of Ashley Real, 22, in 2023.
Calhoun has now been charged with five counts of second-degree murder for five victims, along with four counts of abuse of a corpse. The victims’ bodies were found over multiple months in early 2023, sparking concern at the time that a serial killer might be targeting young women in the region.
Calhoun was previously indicted in the deaths of Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32.
He remains in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center. His defense attorneys declined to comment.
Real, Perry, Webster and Smith were found in northwestern Oregon, while Speaks was found near an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington. Their bodies were found in a roughly 100-mile radius, including in wooded areas and in a culvert.
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Jose Real, Ashley Real’s father, was in tears as he spoke with reporters after the hearing. He recalled memories of watching her grow up and playing with her brother.
“I never thought or imagined that my family would experience something like this,” he said through a Spanish interpreter. “She had a heart of gold.”
Masciell Real, Ashley’s sister, also spoke through tears.
“I think being in that courtroom today and being able to see him, and know that he is behind bars now, it takes the weight off my shoulders knowing that he isn’t around and free to cause any harm to any other women out there,” she said. “But it also doesn’t take away the fact that my sister isn’t here anymore.”
Relatives of other victims were also present.
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“We’ve all experienced the worst thing that could ever happen to you, and it’s incredibly hard to see one of the other families hurt the way we do,” said Melissa Smith, mother of Kristin Smith.
Jose Real previously told The Associated Press that he had called police in November 2022 after his daughter showed up crying at his Portland home, saying she had been choked by Calhoun. She had marks on her throat, he said, and he took her to a hospital.
Real said at the time that an initial police report was taken but that the case was then transferred to a different jurisdiction and it was difficult to reach those overseeing it. Details of the attack were first reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive.
His daughter’s body was found in May 2023 by a man who was fishing in a pond southeast of Portland.
Calhoun was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants and then indicted in 2024 and 2025 in the other four women’s deaths. The initial indictment came weeks before Calhoun was due to be released from state prison, where he was returned in 2023 to finish serving a four-year term for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and other charges.
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He was initially released in 2021, a year early, because he helped fight wildfires in 2020 under a prison firefighting program. Gov. Tina Kotek revoked the commutation in 2023 when police began investigating him in the deaths.
The University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to approve a $1.55 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year.
But they asked university leadership to return with an amended proposal by Dec. 15, when more details about future budget cuts will be known.
FILE — The Board of Trustees recently approved next year’s budget for the University of Oregon. The vote comes several weeks after the school’s president announced that he wants the university to reduce its annual budget as revenues and out-of-state enrollment decline.
Brian Bull / KLCC
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The vote comes several weeks after University of Oregon President Karl Scholz announced that he wants the school to reduce its annual budget by around $65 million.
At a trustees meeting Monday, Scholz said the estimated budget shortfall for next year is just around $23 million. But he said out-of-state enrollment is below historical norms for the second year in a row, and it’s unlikely to bounce back.
“One year can be an aberration. Two years is a pattern,” said Scholz. “And I believe we have to treat it as a new reality.”
Scholz said in May that discussions about the budget would happen over a six-month period. He said no final decisions about cuts would be made over this summer.
On Monday, UO Senate President Dyana Mason told trustees that the Senate had approved a new process to allow for community feedback in the cost-cutting process.
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Mason said the provost will work with the deans on budget proposals, finding “clear rationale” for why programs are considered for elimination.
The provost would then bring those proposals to the Senate Committee for Academic Modifications—which includes staff, faculty and students—for feedback.
Once the plans are nearly finalized, the Senate could then hold a period for public comment.
Mason told trustees that a six-month timeline is better than the three months that frustrated some staff last year, but she recommended taking however much time is necessary.
“The worst situation would be rushing forward to make decisions without appropriate evidence, data, feedback from the people that are most in the know about the impact on our students,” said Mason.
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UO’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Holwerda said that every week that university delays the decisions could cost them millions of dollars.
Nathan Wilk is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom.This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
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Oregon’s juvenile justice system has been reshaped in recent years by a sweeping reform law that changed how the state handles minors accused of serious crimes.
Senate Bill 1008, which took effect in 2020, ended automatic transfers of juveniles into adult court and eliminated life without parole sentences for juveniles. The law also created “second-look” hearings and established parole eligibility after 15 years for certain offenders who committed crimes before turning 18.
To help explain the law and its impact, KVAL’s Frannie Pedersen put together a timeline video tracing the history of Senate Bill 1008, from the passage of Measure 11 in 1994 to the reforms that later reshaped Oregon’s juvenile justice system.
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The video breaks down how the law changed, why lawmakers pushed for reform, and how SB 1008 continues to influence Oregon’s justice system today. Viewers can watch the full video for a detailed timeline and explanation of the changes.
