Dr. Nikisha Knight Coyle, director of the Office of Aging and People with Disabilities at the Oregon Department of Human Services, briefed the House Interim Committee on Early Childhood and Human Services on the Alvarez & Marcel (A&M) reports and the agency’s safety action plan. The presentation framed two 2025 consultant reports and legislative changes under SB 739 as drivers for immediate reform of the Safety Oversight and Quality unit.

“We’ve been working every day to execute on our comprehensive safety action plan,” Knight Coyle told the committee, saying APD reorganized operations to bring adult protective services, safety oversight, incident response and licensing under a more integrated structure. She said A&M’s rapid response (February 2025) and final report (June 30, 2025) found uneven role clarity, workload distribution problems, insufficiently documented expectations for the Safety Oversight and Quality unit, and gaps in training and management communication.

To address those findings, APD has updated immediate‑jeopardy protocols, set new timelines for licensing and complaint investigations, created manager guidance for letters of agreement and begun twice‑weekly serious‑incident huddles. Knight Coyle said the agency contracted Human Services Group (HSG) to produce business process design maps; HSG’s final recommendations are expected in December 2025 and will inform performance metrics and organizational needs. APD is also conducting statutory and staff trainings (management training began in November and unit training is expected to be completed by January) and has prioritized targeted hiring to fill critical positions.

Committee members pressed for details on dual‑model facilities (independent/assisted living combined) and on new key performance measures. Knight Coyle said she would take specific regulatory questions back to staff and agreed to provide the updated KPMs and additional data to members.

The presentation emphasized implementation risks tied to resources and administrative capacity: Knight Coyle warned that technology and data system improvements to manage workloads will require additional investments and that HSG’s December report will be instrumental in sequencing work. She said APD’s approach is to fold A&M recommendations and SB 739 requirements into a single integrated strategic plan so reform efforts are coordinated rather than fragmented.

The committee reserved about six minutes for questions; Knight Coyle said some technical or detailed questions would require follow up and staff responses. The next procedural step is APD’s continued implementation of the safety action plan and provision of requested KPMs and role clarifications to the committee.