3.7 Who’s Really the Boss?
By now, you may be wondering who is actually in charge of human services agencies and whether they are private or public. Public agency employees in Oregon are responsible for being in compliance with the following entities:
- Federal and state laws
- Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs)
- All applicable (statewide) policies of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS)
- The central administrative agency of the Oregon state government
- All applicable ODHS or OHA (agency) policies, processes, or procedures
- Provisions of collective bargaining agreements (for represented employees; State of Oregon, 2022)
That is a lot of regulatory oversight! Private agency employees are not immune from oversight, as they too must comply with federal and state laws and OARs. They also are responsible for complying with agency policies and accreditation regulations. It is easy to understand why a service user experiences delays in services when the systems created to serve them get bogged down with the bureaucracy designed to keep the service user safe. However, just because it can be explained doesn’t mean it is acceptable to delay services due to red tape, and understanding a little about who governs what can help explain the process and improve it. In addition to regulatory rules, agencies must also keep in mind how the professional ethics of the field guide their services. This will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.
Regulatory Requirements
For an agency to provide services, they must acquire permission to work with humans. For public agencies, that authority is given by the legislature. Private agencies must apply for a license; in some cases, become accredited by a regulatory organization, such as the Joint Commission on Accredited Health Organizations (JCAHO), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), or Council on Accreditation (COA); and demonstrate compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations. Let’s break those down.
Law, statutes, and regulations
A law is defined as a rule, usually made by a government, that is used to order the way in which a society behaves. Laws can be federal, state, or local, and they follow a strict hierarchy of authority. Agencies must comply with the most restrictive law when writing policies. Laws are cumulative and remain in effect until a new law is passed or an existing law is repealed. Statutes are also laws, but statutes are not cumulative and have been developed by a governing body such as a city council, state legislature, or national legislature.
Regulations have the next higher level of authority and are generally developed within an act that the legislature passes. Acts, such as the Civil Rights Act, are time-limited and need to be renewed, which means that regulations, unlike laws, are also time-limited and subject to renewal.
OARs are developed by the public agency, board, or commission to explain how to implement the Oregon Revised St