Children here are removed at twice the national rate: Audit of DHS shows work needed to protect children
Oklahoma children are removed from their homes almost twice as often as the national average, putting a strain on both the state system and the children and families themselves, House leaders announced with the release of a sweeping audit of the Department of Human Services.
In Oklahoma, the audit shows that 20 percent of children removed from their home are returned within one week of removal.
In the Tulsa area, 40 percent of children removed are returned home in that same timeframe.
The audit comes after five months of extensive study by the independent auditing firm Hornby Zeller Associates, which has helped lead changes in states like Arkansas and Georgia following similar audits. The audit focused on the children and families services division, field operations division and family support services division of the agency.
If the recommendations are implemented they could protect more Oklahoma children from harm.
House Speaker Chris Benge requested the audit last legislative session and formed a bipartisan working group made up of Republican Reps. Ron Peters, Kris Steele and Pam Peterson and Democratic Reps. Jeannie McDaniel, Wade Rousselot and Richard Morrissette to study the issue.
“It is my hope that everyone involved in this process will put the well-being of Oklahoma children first. I would like to thank department officials, especially agency director Howard Hendrick, for their willingness to work with the Legislature,” said Benge, R-Tulsa. “There will always be a certain level of tragedy when dealing with neglected and abused children, but we must do all we can as a state to minimize those risks.”
The audit recommends streamlining several functions of the agency to eliminate duplication and help families know where they need to go for services.
A centralized hotline needs to be established for all reports of abuse and neglect of children. The department’s licensing processes also need to be more efficient. A single process needs to be developed for all in-home services, whether that is day care, foster care or adoptive screenings.
DHS should also develop a Passport Program similar to that in Texas, which allows information about a child’s physical and behavioral health and educational needs to be available electronically.
The need for additional training for DHS workers was also cited several times in the audit, and DHS Director Hendrick has said the department is already in the process of implementing more stringent and thorough instruction for both new and current employees.
Another audit recommendation would aim to reduce the number of children in the state system by increasing the number of in-home services available to families.
Though additional in-home services may come with a price tag, the state could save money in the long-run with an increased focus on in-home services that would help keep children out of costly state care.
One of the critical recommendations, if enacted, will ensure that a DHS caseworker is directly involved in the removal of a child from their home. Currently, law enforcement can remove a child from the home and place the child in DHS custody without the involvement of a child welfare worker.
The change would help to prevent children from being removed from the home needlessly, which puts undue burdens on the child and the system itself.
The audit proposes some structural reorganization of the Oklahoma and Tulsa county offices. Additionally, the audit says the department’s SWIFT adoption workers need to be integrated into the agency’s local offices.
Benge said that an oversight component, to ensure the changes made are effective, will be included in the reform legislation.
“All of these recommendations will not be able to be implemented overnight, but we will be aggressive in pursuing as many reforms as possible,” said Benge. “Protecting Oklahoma’s children is one of the utmost responsibilities of government and we will work this year and in subsequent years to make sure the state’s child welfare system is the best it can be”
Since 1988, Hornby Zeller Associates, Inc. has provided evaluation and consulting services to public and private organizations in over 30 states and the District of Columbia.
HZA has worked in numerous states conducting research, evaluation, workload, rate-setting and technical assistance projects, which when combined, involves every aspect of child welfare beginning with a child’s entry into the child welfare system, to the investigation of a report, to receipt of services including in-home and foster care, and the achievement of permanency through adoption.
One of the firm’s founders, Dr. Dennis Zeller, grew up in Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.
Legislation seeking to implement many of the audit recommendations was heard in the House Human Services Committee March 2.