Experts say progress made at DHS can’t be lost to state’s budget cuts
Three experts Friday warned the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and state leaders that gains made in improving the state’s child welfare system are fragile.
The experts, known as co-neutrals, strongly urged DHS and “its state partners” to continue to implement reforms despite the state’s budget problems.
The experts are hired to monitor progress at DHS in making changes required by a fiveyear plan developed in 2012. The so-called Pinnacle Plan was developed after DHS settled a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of children who were abused or neglected while in state custody.
The experts comment twice a year on the progress or problems.
In the latest commentary, issued Friday, the experts noted that they have said from the beginning that child welfare workers must have reasonable caseloads for the reforms to work.
“DHS began to show meaningful progress toward reasonable caseloads late in 2014, and continued to do so through the most recent period,” the out-ofstate experts wrote.
“For this reason, it is deeply concerning that DHS may not maintain all planned activities in this reform effort due to Oklahoma’s reported revenue failures. The gains made by DHS since 2012 are fragile, and in many instances have not taken root firmly within the agency,” they wrote.
“Following the investment of new resources to set this agency
on a trajectory of reform, it could be a shattering setback for children, DHS and this reform, if efforts now halt and progress is reversed,” they wrote.
So far, DHS has spared its child welfare services from cutbacks even as it has dealt with the unexpected loss of $58 million in state and federal funds this fiscal year because of two state revenue failures. More financial problems are anticipated in the coming fiscal year.
Last week, DHS Director Ed Lake told employees that the agency’s fiscal circumstances are so serious that reductions in every DHS service are possible. “This news cannot be sugarcoated — the results will be painful, barring what would be some kind of fiscal miracle,” he said.
He did say last week that any reduction in the child welfare area would not jeopardize the progress made in reforms and the obligations of the Pinnacle Plan.
In a news release about the experts’ latest commentary, DHS said “the monitors determined DHS is making progress or has the strategies in place to make progress in more than 80 percent of the agency’s goals and objectives” under the Pinnacle Plan.
“In less than four years, this agency has made tremendous progress,” Lake said Friday. “In a system as complex as ours, we know that immediate improvement does not necessarily equate to long-term success. We are looking far down the road in implementing plans and practices that stand the best chance to sustain the improvements we are looking for. It is not sufficient to simply improve the numbers and measurements in the short term only to lose that momentum later on.”
The lead attorney for foster children in the class-action lawsuit said Friday that progress “has been slower than we have hoped and slower than the state’s children are entitled to.”
“But it is clear that progress can and must be made if the state lives up to its commitments. It would be a tragedy for Oklahoma children if the state does not,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, the attorney.
In the commentary, the co-neutrals found, again, that too many children are being abused and neglected while in DHS custody.
“The rate of child maltreatment in care in Oklahoma is unacceptably high, among the highest in the nation,” the coneutrals complained.
Specifically, they noted that DHS had reported that 265 children out of 16,808 in DHS custody between Oct. 1, 2014, and Sept. 30, 2015, were victims of child maltreatment. If DHS had met its goal, fewer than 60 would have been victimized.
In response, the DHS director said Friday the safety of children in DHS care is the agency’s highest priority and every improvement is intended to keep them safe.
“It is taking time for all of these system improvements to make an impact on the rate of abuse or neglect in care, but we have started to see positive results during the last quarter of 2015 and are confident we will continue to see the safety of children in our care improve,” Lake said.
The co-neutrals also found that too many older children are not getting permanent homes before turning 18 and leaving DHS care. They said DHS has not developed strategies focused squarely on these older children. They concluded DHS has not made good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress in this area.
A DHS spokeswoman, Sheree Powell, told The Oklahoman on Friday: “That is concerning to us, too, but not always something we can control. Sometimes teens, for whatever reason, don’t want to be adopted or be forced into guardianship situations. But they still have supporting relationships from former foster parents or other friends who stay in their lives . ... That’s why we offer a variety of independent living services for kids in their early teen years and start planning for them to turn 18.”
The co-neutrals also noted that DHS continues to have an inadequate supply of therapeutic foster homes for children with difficulties. They pointed out that, as of mid-March, approximately 120 children were on a wait list for placement in a therapeutic foster home.
“Performance in this area has lagged since the beginning of the reform,” they said.
They also pointed out that DHS has slipped in the area of placement stability of children.
Specifically, the experts noted that 77.2 percent of children in DHS care between April 2014 and March 2015 had two or fewer placements in their first year.
Between October 2014 and September 2015, however, 71.3 percent had two or fewer placements within their first year. The experts said that change “raises concerns on a number of levels.”