Oregon DOC Hires Gender-Affirming Care Coordinator Amid Budget Challenges

The Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) has appointed a gender-affirming care coordinator, offering a salary between $78,000 and $115,000 annually. This new role involves overseeing a program dedicated to managing safety risks and the needs of transgender, intersex, and non-binary adults in custody, according to the job listing. The position also chairs a multidisciplinary team focusing on individualized care.

Despite a projected $55 million deficit by 2026, the DOC continues gender-related initiatives instituted by Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, who is seeking re-election. This hire highlights logistical challenges in caring for trans prisoners.

After reviewing the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, Oregon’s only women-only prison, in 2023, Governor Kotek committed to addressing delayed care for both cisgender and trans inmates. The report identified significant medical and mental health issues caused by delays, including access to hormone replacement therapy.

One transgender resident at Coffee Creek expressed frustration over not receiving hormone blocker treatment, leading to distressing experiences.

Governor Kotek vowed to tackle these challenges, emphasizing systemic shortcomings in meeting the needs of incarcerated women nationwide. Her office established the Advisory Panel on Gender Responsive Practices in Corrections, recommending staff training on housing and care for transgender and gender-diverse inmates.

The role is akin to one proposed in SB 1120—a failed bill that aimed to establish coordination efforts for supporting transgender inmates. The new hire contradicts Kotek’s directive to reduce spending, prompted by changes made when President Trump’s tax cuts altered Oregon’s financial landscape, resulting in a $373.7 million deficit.

Kotek instructed departments to find savings and suspend non-essential spending; however, she prioritizes trans care, advocating for expanded access to necessary procedures within health care.

“Gender-affirming care is health care. Period,” Kotek declared at a bill signing in 2023, following the passage of a package supporting reproductive and gender-affirming care.

Governor Kotek criticized the Trump administration’s attempt to limit funding for hospitals providing gender-affirming procedures to minors, emphasizing its importance as recognized by major medical organizations.

Further inquiries on the new position’s details went unaddressed by Kotek’s office, leaving its specific duties unclear.