Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 291 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › Division 205 - VICTIM SERVICES PROGRAM › Section 291-205-0010 - Authority, Purpose and Policy

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1)
			 Authority: The authority for these rules is granted to the Director of the
			 Department of Corrections in accordance with ORS
			 179.040,
			 423.020,
			 423.030,
			 423.075 and
			 423.615.
(2) Purpose: The purpose of this rule is to
			 further the Department of Correction's mission, vision and core values by
			 establishing policy and procedures for the operation and administration of the
			 department's Victim Services Programs.
(3) Policy:
(a) The objective of the department's Victim
			 Services Programs is to benefit and assist people who have been harmed by crime
			 and to help inmates make amends or restitution for the harm caused by their
			 crime.
(b) Within the inherent
			 limitations of resources and the need to maintain facility security, safety,
			 discipline, health and good order, it is the policy of the Department of
			 Corrections to:
(A) Provide crime victims and
			 survivors and concerned members of the general public with timely information
			 about any changes in the incarceration status of department inmates, including
			 an inmate's physical release from a Department of Corrections facility, through
			 the Victim Information and Notification Everyday Program (VINE);
(B) Permit victim-initiated facilitated
			 dialogues between victims or survivors of serious and violent crimes and
			 inmates in Department of Corrections facilities through the Facilitated
			 Dialogue Program;
(C) Permit a
			 structured responsibility letter writing process to offer inmates the
			 opportunity to express remorse and personal responsibility to crime victims
			 /survivors of their crimes through the Responsibility Letter Bank
			 Program;
(D) Provide other general
			 services to crime victims and survivors and to inmates who are working to make
			 amends and restitution for their crimes through the department's Victim
			 Services Programs and;
(E)
			 Collaborate with other agencies, people, and community organizations to assist
			 crime victims and survivors, and inmates.
(c) Facilitated dialogues can promote justice
			 and healing for crime victims or survivors and aid inmates in the process of
			 their rehabilitation. When authorized by the functional unit manager or
			 designee, a facilitated dialogue is permitted neither as a matter of right nor
			 as a privilege of a crime victim or survivor or an inmate. Rather, a
			 facilitated dialogue is permitted by the functional unit manager or designee,
			 in his or her sole discretion, when it is determined the facilitated dialogue
			 may further the correctional goals and mission of the department, and the
			 healing process for crime victims or survivors. Such dialogues must always be
			 consistent with the safe, secure, and orderly management and operation of the
			 Department's correctional facilities.
(d) In order for the Facilitated Dialogue
			 Program to be successful, participants must be able to speak openly and
			 honestly about the crime and its impact, knowing that what they communicate
			 will not be shared with other people or used against them later, except as
			 required by law. Accordingly, it is the policy of the Department of Corrections
			 to maintain the confidentiality of all facilitated dialogue communications to
			 the maximum extent permitted by law and in accordance with these rules.
(e) The Responsibility Letter Bank
			 Program promotes healing for crime victims or survivors and the rehabilitation
			 and acceptance of responsibility on the part of inmates who participate in the
			 program. In order for these letter exchanges to be effective and meaningful,
			 and to ensure that victims and survivors have control over whether they receive
			 a letter or not, it is the policy of the Department of Corrections to maintain
			 the confidentiality of all Responsibility Letter Bank communications to the
			 maximum extent permitted by law and in accordance with these rules.