OAR 291-205-0010: Authority, Purpose and Policy

(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.