2015 Oregon Revised Statutes
Volume : 11 - Public Health, Housing, Environment
Chapter 443 - Residential Care; Adult Foster Homes; Hospice Programs
Section 443.765 - Complaint procedure; retaliation prohibited; notice of rates and rules; liability for complaints.

(1) Complaints against adult foster homes may be filed with the licensing agency by any person, whether or not a resident of the home. The licensing agency shall investigate complaints regarding adult foster homes and shall adopt by rule standards governing investigations pursuant to this section.

(2) The licensing agency shall prepare a notice which must be posted in a conspicuous place in each adult foster home stating the telephone number of the agency and the procedure for making complaints.

(3) The licensing agency shall maintain a file of all complaints and the action taken on the complaint, indexed by the name of the owner or operator. When the licensing agency concludes the investigation of a complaint, the agency shall clearly designate the outcome of the complaint investigation in the complaint file. The filed complaint forms shall protect the privacy of the complainant, the resident and the witnesses.

(4) Any person has a right to inspect and photocopy the complaint files maintained by the licensing agency.

(5)(a) The owner or operator of an adult foster home may not prohibit, discourage or use intimidation against any person to prevent the filing of a complaint with the licensing agency.

(b) If a resident, or a person acting on the resident’s behalf, files a complaint with the licensing agency, the owner or operator of an adult foster home may not retaliate against the resident by:

(A) Increasing charges;

(B) Decreasing services, rights or privileges;

(C) Threatening to increase charges or decrease services, rights or privileges;

(D) Taking or threatening to take any action to coerce or compel the resident to leave the facility; or

(E) Abusing or threatening to harass or abuse a resident in any manner.

(c) The owner or operator of an adult foster home may not retaliate against any person who files a complaint or any witness or employee of a facility interviewed about the complaint, including but not limited to retaliation by restriction of otherwise lawful access to the adult foster home or to any resident thereof, or, if an employee, to dismissal or harassment.

(6) The provider shall give all residents, upon admission, a notice of the monthly rates and the house rules.

(7) Anyone participating in good faith in the filing of a complaint pursuant to this section is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with respect to the filing or substance of the complaint. Any such participant shall have the same immunity with respect to participating in any judicial proceeding resulting from the complaint. A person does not act in good faith for the purposes of this subsection if the substance of the complaint is false and:

(a) The person knows that the substance of the complaint is false; or

(b) The person makes the complaint with the intent to harm the owner or operator of the adult foster home, or the adult foster home, and the person shows a reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the substance of the complaint.

[1983 c.629 §7; 1985 c.651 §3; 1991 c.960 §7; 2001 c.447 §1; 2009 c.595 §791m]