Melissa and Kim have kindly invited my participation in this site, thank you both ")
Bob
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Excellent coverage from the Wynnewood Gazette
The best coverage on this case has been the reporting from Shannon Kile at the Wynnewood Gazette. He has been there from the start and reports on all of the facts. The article below is from the July 9, 2014 issue. http://www.thewynnewoodgazette.com
Monday, July 14, 2014
Oklahoma DHS -Not Doing Their Job
Improving State Child Protection Systems In 2014 (whatever it takes)
Class action lawsuits get results where legislators don’t (Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, D.C., New Jersey, Mississippi) Proving that it’s not who is your senator, but who is your attorney. Whatever it Takes.
Tags: child advocacy groups, children's rights, class action lawsuites, invisible children.org, invisiblechildren, kara, Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Mike Tikkanen
can proceed as a class action on behalf of all of the children dependent on the agency for protection and care — more than 10,000 kids in all — the association that represents Oklahoma’s child welfare workers has come out in strong support of our efforts.
(PDF) describes employees of Oklahoma’s child welfare agency as having worked “for years under the burdens of a crushingly excessive caseload, staff shortages, inadequate pre-service and in-service training and supervision, the inability to adequately supervise and monitor children in foster care placements and a consequent inability to protect foster children from harm.”
(PDF) — itself the result of months of interviews with dozens of people involved in every aspect of Oklahoma child welfare.
and an op-ed by the executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association
— follows.
(The Oklahoman, Feb. 16)
(KJRH-TV Tulsa, Feb. 16)
(The Oklahoman, Feb. 14)
(The Oklahoman, Feb. 7)
jklhjkh
by Improving State Child Protection Systems In 2014 (whatever it takes)
January 1, 2014 in Crime and Courts, Invisible Children, Politics and Funding, Public Policy, The States by Mike Tikkanen
Class action lawsuits get results where legislators don’t (Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, D.C., New Jersey, Mississippi) Proving that it’s not who is your senator, but who is your attorney. Whatever it Takes.
From Oklahoma News on 6 12,27.13,
Oklahoma is one of 14 states sued by child advocacy group Children’s Rights. The federal class action lawsuit was filed back in 2008, claiming children in state custody were in danger, because the system wasn’t doing enough to protect them.
The state has spent millions fighting it. With the trial just two months away and a judge denying the state’s last two efforts to get the case thrown out, DHS is now considering settling the suit.
According to Children’s Right’s website, their lawsuits have led to $2 billion in additional funding for child welfare systems.
Tennessee, D.C., New Jersey, and Mississippi were all sued, all ended up settling and all have seen dramatic increases in funding. Tennessee’s child welfare budget ballooned by $161 million over six years.
In D.C. it increased by more than $140 million over the last decade. In New Jersey, child welfare dollars were up by nearly $340 million in three years. In Mississippi, it’s up more than $42 million in the last four years.
Children’s Rights says this isn’t just about the money. They claim these states have safer, better systems, with drastically reduced foster care populations, more adoptions, and lower case loads for child welfare workers.
So far, the details of Oklahoma’s settlement are confidential, but Director Hendrick did say “the terms are unique in this kind of litigation,” calling it a “new approach to resolving class action civil rights claim.”
Yes friends, these are the civil rights of children being violated (that is why the states are paying).
OKLAHOMA CITY -
The state’s three-year legal battle over Oklahoma’s embattled child welfare agency could come to an end Wednesday.
The commission overseeing the Department of Human Services agreed last week to settle the federal class action lawsuit. But it’s not a done deal yet.
The governor and the state’s top lawmakers will meet Wednesday afternoon to decide whether to accept the settlement proposal. Right now, the details of that settlement are confidential. But based on similar lawsuit, DHS could be in for a multi-million dollar renovation.
“Many of the other states that have experience in this kind of litigation really have quite an expensive fix,” said Howard Henrick, DHS Director.
Oklahoma is one of 14 states sued by child advocacy group Children’s Rights. The federal class action lawsuit was filed back in 2008, claiming children in state custody were in danger, because the system wasn’t doing enough to protect them.
The state has spent millions fighting it. With the trial just two months away and a judge denying the state’s last two efforts to get the case thrown out, DHS is now considering settling the suit.
According to Children’s Right’s website, their lawsuits have led to $2 billion in additional funding for child welfare systems.
Tennessee, D.C., New Jersey, and Mississippi were all sued, all ended up settling and all have seen dramatic increases in funding. Tennessee’s child welfare budget ballooned by $161 million over six years.
In D.C. it increased by more than $140 million over the last decade. In New Jersey, child welfare dollars were up by nearly $340 million in three years. In Mississippi, it’s up more than $42 million in the last four years.
Children’s Rights says this isn’t just about the money. They claim these states have safer, better systems, with drastically reduced foster care populations, more adoptions, and lower case loads for child welfare workers.
So far, the details of Oklahoma’s settlement are confidential, but Director Hendrick did say “the terms are unique in this kind of litigation,” calling it a “new approach to resolving class action civil rights claims.”
Again, the settlement is not a done deal. It still needs approval from the Governor, Senate Pro Tem, and the Speaker of the House. They’re scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon.
News on Six will keep you updated on what they decide.
ng it. With the trial just two months away and a judge denying the state’s last two efforts to get the case thrown
out, DHS is now considering settling the suit.
out, DHS is now considering settling the suit.
According to Children’s Right’s website, their lawsuits have led to $2 billion in additional funding for child welfare systems.
Tennessee, D.C., New Jersey, and Mississippi were all sued, all ended up settling and all have seen dramatic increases in funding. Tennessee’s child welfare budget ballooned by $161 million over six years.
In D.C. it increased by more than $140 million over the last decade. In New Jersey, child welfare dollars were up by nearly $340 million in three years. In Mississippi, it’s up more than $42 million in the last four years.
Children’s Rights says this isn’t just about the money. They claim these states have safer, better systems, with drastically reduced foster care populations, more adoptions, and lower case loads for child welfare workers.
So far, the details of Oklahoma’s settlement are confidential, but Director Hendrick did say “the terms are unique in this kind of litigation,” calling it a “new approach to resolving class action civil rights claims.”
Again, the settlement is not a done deal. It still needs approval from the Governor, Senate Pro Tem, and the Speaker of the House. They’re scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon.
News on Six will keep you updated on what they decide.
Tags: child advocacy groups, children's rights, class action lawsuites, invisible children.org, invisiblechildren, kara, Kids At Risk Action (KARA), Mike Tikkanen
As the hearing approaches that will determine whether Children’s Rights’ lawsuit to reform Oklahoma’s failing child welfare agency
Last Wednesday, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association filed an amicus curiae (or “friend of the court”) brief expressing its belief that enabling the lawsuit to proceed as a class action is “essential.”
The brief
It says the problems plague the Oklahoma Department of Human Services throughout, and it describes the terrible result for too many of Oklahoma’s children: “physical and emotional abuse, extended placement in overcrowded shelters, excessive multiple foster care placements, a lack of adequate permanency efforts, inadequate medical and psychological care, and death.”
“We need this lawsuit and the kids need to win it,” says one DHS employee quoted in the brief. “We know what to do and we’ve told [DHS] administration what it needs to do — administration just won’t do it.”
Although this is one of the more prominent displays of Oklahomans’ support for the ongoing reform campaign, it is far from the only one. Last Friday, Children’s Rights and our distinguished local co-counsel team submitted a statement of remedies sought in the case
Like the members of the OPEA, these people work on the front lines every day — and have seen firsthand the problems that have made Oklahoma’s child welfare system one of the most dangerous in the country. Although we will need to investigate further to be able to propose detailed solutions to those problems, their input has enabled us to trace the broad outlines of a reform plan that, if implemented, will result in significantly better results for Oklahoma’s children and families.
The ongoing developments in Oklahoma have been covered extensively in the local media. A round-up of recent coverage — including a supportive editorial by The Oklahoman
Meanwhile, we continue to gear up for next Tuesday’s hearing — and we’ll be posting here as soon as we know the result.
Recent Oklahoma Press Coverage
jklhjkh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)