State Has Been Allowing Residential Care Facilities to Lock In Residents

Unless a residential care facility is specifically designed for people with Alzheimer’s, it’s against the rules to stop residents from leaving.

“If it has an alternative locking system that allows for exits, it must provide residents with a means to override the locked doors such as with a key fob, posted door codes, or the equivalent, so they may exit at will,” says a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Human Services. “If a code is required, the code must be posted in an easily accessible location and use a standard numeric format.”

But the state has been quietly waiving those rules, according to documents obtained by WW.

As of now, four facilities have waivers: Timber Town Living in Sutherlin, McKenzie Living Eugene, Juniper Canyon Living in Redmond, and Sapphire at The Butte in Gresham.

The reasons cited vary, including that patients have “challenging behaviors” or have traumatic brain injuries.

It’s part of a concerning trend, says the state ombudsman, Fred Steele. “We would be getting calls—and they’ve been increasing in the last couple of years—from individuals saying: ‘I’m not being allowed to go to the grocery store, can you help?’” Steele said. “It was baffling to our staff why individuals were not being allowed to leave.”

The state says all facilities that have been approved to lock their doors must “ensure [residents] still have the right to access the community on a regular basis.”

Steele says his office has been challenging the growing list of waivers for years—and in recent months, the advocacy has paid off. He says the state revoked one waiver only weeks after it was issued once the ombudsman complained. “I want to believe they realized that there was no legal basis for approving that request,” he says.

The state spokesperson told WW that recent waivers have been terminated at three facilities, which are now “posting door codes as per Oregon Administrative Rules.”