Weekly Opinion Editorial
OKLAHOMA KIDS NEED HELP!
by
Steve Fair
Last week, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin kicked off ‘Oklahoma Fosters,’
a program designated to encourage Oklahomans to become foster parents. “There
are nearly 11,000 children in Oklahoma’s
foster care system and we desperately need the hold of our entire community to
care for them,” Fallin said. “These
children are in state custody through no fault of their own. They need foster
families to love and support them during their time of need.” The program is asking businesses to
encourage employees, and churches to encourage congregations, and Native
American tribes to encourage citizens to consider being foster or adoptive
parents. The goal is to have one
thousand (1,000) new foster parents by June of 2016.
“This is a crisis that government alone cannot solve,” Department
of Human Services Director Ed Lake said. “We
must have the help of businesses, nonprofits and philanthropic foundations,
along with our current community and faith partners. There is a role for
everyone and it will take all of us working together to take care of Oklahoma’s children.”
One of the reasons there is such a
sense of urgency to recruit more foster parents is because the state has closed
large emergency children’s shelters in Oklahoma City
and Tulsa. By the end of the year, the Tulsa
facility- Laura Dester Children
Center- will be
closed. Between 50-100 kids were housed
at the facility at any designated time.
Laura Dester is just five years old and cost taxpayers $12.4 million.
DHS hasn’t announced plans for its use after the children are removed and
shifted to private homes. The closures are part of the DHS Pinnacle Plan, a
five year blueprint to improve child welfare in Oklahoma.
The Pinnacle Plan was the result of a settlement with child advocacy
groups after they sued the state on behalf of several children hurt or killed
in DHS custody. The plan was finalized
in July 2012. You can read the entire
Pinnacle Plan online at the DHS website.
Earlier this month, Sue Ann Arnall,
Harold Hamm’s ex wife, though her Arnall Family Foundation gave $4.8 million
dollars to the Department of Human Services for programs supporting foster
care. Arnall designated $2 million
to the Intercept program, a high-intensity, in-home treatment program
for troubled children and families that started serving Tulsa last year
and $2.8 million toward starting a Youth Village program for older foster
children. It helps mentor them as they
transition to adulthood.
If you are interested in becoming a foster parent, the requirements and
qualification are listed on the DHS website- okdhs.org. Applicants must be between the ages of 21-55,
be emotionally and financially stable, pass a background check, be a
non-smoker, and be in good health. The
state pays between $15-$20 a day to foster parents.
Why does Oklahoma
have so many foster children? There are obviously
a number of factors; first, Oklahoma
has the highest female incarceration rate in the country and the second highest
rate overall. When the parents go to
jail, the state has to take care of the kids.
The second reason is that DHS personnel are extra cautious and removing
more children from homes. Because of the
scrutiny the agency received after children in state custody children were
injured and killed, the agency has erred on the side of caution. The result has been a 40% increase in the
number of foster children in state custody in the past 5 years. Thankfully,
most children placed in foster care in Oklahoma
are back with their parents within a year, but a significant number remain in
state custody long-term.
The root cause of the dramatic increase in
foster children is the breakdown of the Oklahoma
family. One factor that must be
considered is the expansion of gambling across the state. According to Alan Meister, an economist at the
University of California, Oklahoma Indian tribes
derive over $5 billion annually from gambling revenue. Meister
says Oklahoma ranks second to only California in Indian
gaming. “The top two states, California and Oklahoma, generated a
combined 38 percent of gaming revenue. Meanwhile, the top five states, which
added Connecticut, Florida,
and Washington to California
and Oklahoma,
accounted for approximately 61 percent of gaming revenue,” Meister
says.
In
2004, Oklahoma
voters approved a state wide lottery and the expansion of casino gambling. The promise was better schools and prosperity. Is it just a coincidence that incarceration rates,
embezzlement cases and the number of foster children to be provided for by
taxpayers has increased since gambling was expanded? Gambling produces nothing. It appeals to the covetousness nature of man
and in the long run is a detriment to society.
Gambling is never a good investment.
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