In Episode 14 of Oregon D.O.G.E., Senator Mike McLane and Representative Jeff Helfrich—joined by policy researcher Mac T. Smith—take listeners deep into the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA), exposing one of the most alarming state agency failures in recent memory.
Originally tasked with rehabilitating youth offenders and guiding them toward productive lives, the OYA now finds itself facing allegations of:
- Decades of sexual abuse by staff
- Thousands of complaints left unreviewed
- Hiring decisions made for optics, not qualifications
- Massive backlogs and operational collapse
- A proposed $550 million budget, despite systemic failure
⚠️ Key Issues Raised in This Episode:
- Abuse Allegations: Lawsuits allege that OYA staff sexually assaulted youth in custody for years, with claims involving drugs, coercion, and threats. Some of these allegations date back decades.
- Investigative Failure: The agency’s chief investigator, Raymond Byrd, reportedly never accessed the complaint database in five years on the job. He later testified he was bogged down by DEI duties instead of doing his actual job.
- Political Hiring: Byrd, a former official in Hawaii, was allegedly promoted based on race over more qualified candidates. He later stated he was “set up to fail.”
- Agency Collapse: Internal staff concerns were ignored. Over 3,000 complaints went unreviewed, and an additional 733 cases were never even investigated.
- $51M Lawsuit Pending: The state is now facing a major lawsuit tied to these scandals, likely to be paid directly out of the general fund—your tax dollars.
🧠 Broader Themes:
This episode isn’t just about abuse—it’s about oversight failure. Legislators detail how DEI programs, poorly managed internal standards, and a culture of secrecy left the most vulnerable Oregonians unprotected.
And when Republican lawmakers try to ask hard questions in committee? They’re often gaveled down or silenced—meaning taxpayers lose the chance to hear the truth.
Lawmakers also explore the broader implications of:
- State self-insurance and litigation payouts
- The lack of independent investigative structures in Oregon’s agencies
- How the legislative majority protects agencies from scrutiny instead of demanding answers