Ask Mike - Can a felon get paid to care for his mother

Dear Concerned in Oregon,

Thanks for writing. You have been an adult foster care provider for a woman whose son wants her to come live with his girlfriend and him. You are concerned that the living space and environment are very inadequate. They live in a one-bedroom mobile home that is a "total mess" and they have a history of fighting and yelling. You became the foster provider originally because the son and girlfriend were evicted from their previous housing. The son has a felony background. The girlfriend would be the paid worker. You want to know if, under these circumstances, the state of Oregon will allow the move and provider change.

I do not know the specific answer to your question, but after a quick look at the Oregon's rules for providers, I think there will, at a minimum, be a lot of scrutiny and questions from the State before the scenario you describe would be allowed. The PAS Center website can help you look for the information you want and also provide contact information for you to ask questions of, or share concerns with, the State. From our "State Information" page, select Agencies Related to PAS. Click on "Oregon" and on the next page, click on "Medicaid Agency". Contact information such as phone numbers and address are provided along with a website address. You can use the contact information and call or write and ask your questions, or you could use the website to do a little research. It’s not hard. There are links to the pertinent rules and regulations.

Click on the link to the Oregon website. On the far left side of the page, at the very bottom, click on the link Rules and policies. On the next page, still on the far right side, click on Criminal history checks. On the next page, still on the far right side, click on Rules and policy. On the next page, scroll down to the heading “DHS and OHA Provider rules” and click on New Update (in red!) Criminal Records Checks and Abuse Checks. What comes next are the rules governing criminal background and abuse checks. In particular, check out 407-007-0275 "Disqualifying Convictions...", 407-007-0280 "Potentially Disqualifying Convictions", and 407-007-0290 "Other Potentially Disqualifying Convictions".

One question I had is, "What does the person you are fostering want to do; stay with you, or go with her son?" The answer to this question is very important.

I hope this helps and that things work out,

Mike