Federal court drops oversight of Oklahoma foster care system

After 13 years, oversight of Oklahoma's child welfare system by the federal court is coming to an end.

A federal court determined the state had made enough improvements in developing a safe and more effective system.

"DHS made good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress toward the Target Outcomes for each of the remaining, seven Delayed Performance Area Measures," state evaluators said in the final report.

They said Oklahoma improved caseworker caseloads, maltreatment in care rates, placement stability, permanency rates, the use of shelter facilities, and much more, all leading to the betterment of the lives of the foster children.

“We are so grateful that we were able to work with the state to achieve the complete turn-round of a foster care system that was damaging to children,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, counsel for the children and Executive Director of A Better Childhood, a national advocacy group for children. “The state, with the assistance of the neutral experts, has been able to rebuild the foster care system so that it now protects rather than harms children. It is a really significant accomplishment.”

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said, "Today marks the culmination of 13 years of dedicated work to protect Oklahoma's most vulnerable children. Our office has been proud to work hand-in-hand with DHS throughout this process, from negotiating the initial settlement to witnessing the remarkable transformation of our child welfare system."

“I am proud of, and grateful for, those in the Attorney General’s Office who worked hard to ensure that a system once in crisis is now recognized as a standard across the country,” Drummond said. "Of course, praise must also go to the Legislature for its commitment and investment, and to DHS for its tireless efforts in fixing a broken system that needed significant reform."

Joe Dorman, CEO of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) released the following statement:

“We at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy welcome this news and applaud the improvement made at Oklahoma Human Services through the years under the Pinnacle Plan court order,” Dorman said. “And personally, as a lawmaker who supported the series of legislation which implemented the standards which DHS had to follow under this plan, I am extremely happy to see this come to successful culmination.”

“OICA was created to be an outside watchdog on state government in matters relating to child well-being due to an earlier court case, the Terry D. Lawsuit. We look forward to working with Oklahoma Human Services to assist with their promise to ‘continue working with community partners, legislators, and other stakeholders to maintain transparency and ensure Oklahoma families have the resources they need for lifelong success,” said Dorman.

“We never want to return to a place where another such action is needed to protect children placed in these systems. We remind officials that although progress has been made, we have a long way to go before we end the trauma experienced by Oklahoma's children. We encourage lawmakers to continue to invest in education, healthcare, and family support programs that stabilize Oklahoma's fragile families.”

Judge Gregory Frizzell terminated the Court's Consent Order in the federal lawsuit D.G. vs. Yarborough on Thursday.

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