Summits

The Commission on the Status of Women, in partnership with Oklahoma City Community College, hosted the Solutions, Initiatives, Strategies, (*SIS) Summit, Navigating the Oklahoma Childcare Crisis: A Barrier to Women’s Economic Opportunity, Thursday, October 24.

According to the Oklahoma Child Care Resource and Referral Center, currently 55% of our state’s population lives in a childcare dessert. A childcare desert is any census tract with more than 30 children under age 5 that contains either no childcare providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed childcare slots (source: Center for American Progress.)

Keynote speaker was Emmy-Award winning journalist Paula Faris. The Summit featured several experts on childcare costs and access, workforce development and workplace issues. The speakers addressed current strategies and challenges and from their in-depth insights, the Commission will recommend public policy solutions to the Oklahoma governor and legislature. 2023 Summit Program 11x17

Childcare Continues to Top the Charts of Common Household Expenses

Historically, statistics prove, when families do not have access to affordable, high-quality childcare, children miss out on important child development opportunities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 100,000 Americans have been forced to stay home from work each month because of childcare problems.

The childcare shortage is not only causing parents to leave their jobs, but also preventing them from returning to work. The economic toll now amounts to $122 billion each year in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue.

Tackling the Childcare Crisis in Oklahoma will Require a Comprehensive Strategy in Public Investment. On May 2, 2023, House Bill 2452 was signed by Governor Kevin Stitt, and became law on Nov. 1. The bill principally authored by Rep. Suzanne Schreiber (Dist. 70) and Sen. Jessica Garvin (Dist. 43) prohibit municipal governments from enacting additional regulations on family childcare homes that have already undergone the rigorous licensing process prescribed by the Department of Human Services to operate a childcare business in Oklahoma. Through the passage of HB 2452, Oklahoma has shown a commitment to increasing access to quality and affordable childcare for Oklahoma families, while working to stabilize the struggling childcare industry across the state.

Strategies to Improve the Childcare Crisis

• Create policies aimed at expanding licensed childcare facilities in census tracts.
• Extend full utilization of subsidized childcare benefits.
• Where applicable, increase access to paid family leave.
• Offer flexible working hours or on-site childcare.
• Provide more Nontraditional Hours (NTH) childcare facilities.

*SIS is a collaborative, non-partisan statewide initiative of action strategies recommended by the Commission to improve the quality of life for women in Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women in collaboration with Attorney General Scott Pruitt, the YWCA and the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition presented the Oklahoma SIS* Domestic Violence Summit, Thursday, July 14, 2016. *(Solutions, Initiatives, Strategies.

The summit, presented by the Inasmuch was held at the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC), Visual and Performing Arts Center, 7777 South May Ave, Oklahoma City, OK. Leaders from elected official and the faith community, city and state, business and professionals, and service providers explored specific issues surrounding domestic violence and the effect on Oklahoma.

The purpose was to provide education, increase awareness around domestic violence, discuss the impact, prevention, and obstacles to change. The goal of the event was formulating recommendations to stimulate changes in state policy by creating initiatives to benefit survivors of domestic violence statewide.

Speakers included, Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Assistant Attorney General, Lesley March, Deputy Chief Johnny Kuhlman, Senator Kay Floyd, Senator David Holt, Judge April Sellers White, Marie Abraham – Robinson, Executive Director of the Wings of Hope Family Crisis Center, in Stillwater, Brandon Pasley, Senior Director of Specialized Training at the YWCA, Oklahoma City, Victoria Woods, OCSW Commissioner and Founder and CEO of ChappelWood Financial Services, Adam Soltani, Chairman of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches’ Religious United Committee, Andrea Hamor - Edmondson, Rape Prevention and Education Coordinator for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Stephanie Lowry, Mari Fagin and Karin Harlod. Panel topics included Domestic Violence Impact in the Workplace, Obstacles to Prosecution, and Community Resources for Care, Prevention and Education.

Summit Objective
Develop Strategies to Prevent, Reduce and / or Eliminate Domestic Violence

Overall Objective of Summit
Supporting survivors to increase safety and lessen harms

Statewide Initiatives

• Provide education.
• Do not ignore the abuse.
• Report the abuse.
• Know the number to a nearby shelter.
• Create protective environments for all people.
• Strengthen economic support systems.

Know Some of the major warning signs of domestic violence

• Pushing for quick involvement: Comes on strong, claiming, “I’ve never felt loved like this by anyone.”
• Jealousy: Excessively possessive; calls constantly or visits unexpectedly; prevents you from going to work because “you might meet someone.”
• Controlling Behavior: Interrogates you intensely (especially if you’re late) about whom you talked to and where you were; keeps all the money; insists you ask permission to do anything.
• Unrealistic expectations: Expects you to be the perfect mate and meet his or her every need.
• Isolation: Tries to cut you off from family and friends; accuses people who support you of “causing trouble.”
• Blaming others for problems or mistakes: It’s always someone else’s fault when anything goes wrong.
• Making others responsible for his or her feelings: The abuser says, “You make me angry,” instead of “I am angry,” or says, “You’re hurting me by not doing what I tell you.”
• Hypersensitivity: Is easily insulted, claiming hurt feelings when he or she is really mad.
• Cruelty to animals or children: Kills or punishes animals brutally. Also, may expect children to do things that are far beyond their ability (whips a 3-year-old for wetting a diaper) or may tease them until they cry.
• Use of force during sex: Enjoys throwing you down or holding you down against your will during sex.
• Verbal abuse: Constantly criticizes or says blatantly cruel, hurtful things, degrades, curses, calls you ugly names.
• Rigid roles: Expects you to serve, obey and remain at home.
• Sudden mood swings: Switches from sweet to violent in minutes.
• Past battering: Admits to hitting a mate in the past but says the person “made” him (or her) do it.
• Threats of violence: Says things like, “I’ll break your neck,” or “I’ll kill you,” and then dismisses them with, “I didn’t really mean it.”
• Controlling behaviors using social media or technology.

Know the inter-related types of domestic violence and abuse

• Physical violence (Controlling, beating, pushing, stalking, etc.).
• Verbal violence (Coercion, threats, blames, including hate speech, etc.).
• Psychological violence (Isolation, emotional, intimidation, etc.).
• Sexual violence (sexual intercourse without consent, etc. Most common type).
• Socio-economic violence (preventing a person from being employed, posting on social media, etc.).

Websites on Domestic Violence and Abuse

• What is Domestic Violence
• Oklahoma Domestic Violence Help, Programs and Statistics
• Domestic Violence - Oklahoma 2-1-1 Resource Directory
• Victims Services Resources |Oklahoma Attorney General
• Oklahoma State Health Department
• Oklahoma Faith Network
• YWCA Oklahoma City
• YWCA Tulsa
• National Domestic Violence Hotline
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• Domestic Violence and Abuse
• CDC Fast Facts: Preventing Intimate Partner Violence
• Domestic Violence and the Law in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women in collaboration with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition presented the Oklahoma SIS* Human Trafficking Summit July 17, 2014.  *(Solutions, Initiatives, Strategies.)

The event was held at the Sheraton Oklahoma City Downtown. Keynote speaker from San Diego, Ca. was Autumn Burris, founder/Director of Survivors for Solutions. Panel discussions covered Awareness, Prosecution, and Partnerships. This included but was not limited to the need for data collection, emergency response /investigation, legislation/policies, law enforcement, and survivor services.

Summit Objectives

• Awareness of the various roles of agencies, organizations, and stakeholders in the spectrum of human trafficking: Prevention, Protection – Adult Victim Services, and Protection – Child Victim Services.
• Identify potential key solutions, strategies, and funding strategies for combating human trafficking in Oklahoma.
• Network to stimulate new collaborations and partnerships for developing and implementing potential key solutions and strategies.
• Shape a State Action Plan to assist state legislators, law enforcement, service agencies and other anti-trafficking entities in improving Oklahoma’s strategy to fight human trafficking.

Statewide Action Plan

• Develop State Plan with assistance from Summit partners and stakeholders
• Coordinate the implementation of the State Plan
• Coordinate the collection and sharing of human trafficking data among government agencies, the data collection shall respect the privacy of the victims of human trafficking
• Coordinate the sharing of information between agencies for the purposes of detecting individuals and groups engaged in human trafficking
• Establish policies to enable state government to work with non-governmental organizations and other elements of civil society to prevent human trafficking and aid US citizen and foreign national victims of human trafficking
• Review the existing services and facilities to meet the needs of victims of human trafficking and recommend a system that would coordinate such services, including but not limited to health services, interpreting services, legal and immigration services, and victim compensation
• Evaluate various approaches used by state and local governments to increase public awareness of human trafficking, including trafficking of US citizen and foreign national victims
• Submit an annual report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate.

A forum of community and state leaders joined the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women to present their 2012 SIS on Obesity and Diabetes in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The focus of the summit was Gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose (blood sugar) level develops during pregnancy (especially during their third trimester.)

In Oklahoma, almost one in ten Oklahoma mothers reported GDM or high blood sugar during their pregnancy. The risk was highest for mothers 30 years or older those obese prior to becoming pregnant multiparous women and women living in lower income households.

Prenatal counseling on types of food to eat during pregnancy was significantly greater for women with GDM (86.7% vs. 75.1% for non-GDM); however, counseling on appropriate weight gain during pregnancy and exercise did not differ between GDM and non-GDM mothers.

Compared to women in the normal or underweight BMI categories with GMD, overweight or obese women with GDM had higher rates of adverse outcomes, such as cesarean sections, high birth weight infants, and longer hospital stays for the mother after delivery.

Websites on Obesity, Nutrition and Physical activity

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html
Website describes and defines overweight and obesity in adults, defines the term BMI (body mass index) and directs individuals to other sites related to overweight and obesity.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/basics.html
Website describes and defines the terms overweight and obesity in children, describes weight charts and consequences of obesity over the lifespan.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm
A website for the public, defines overweight and obesity, energy balance and factors contributing to overweight and obesity versus a healthy weight.

http://eatright.org - the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
A website for the public, has a section on Women’s Health, reviews on diets, food tips and other general information on food and nutrition.

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm
This website has a calculator that figures your BMI.  Enter your height in feet and inches and your weight in pounds and the calculator automatically calculates you BMI.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/get-active/getting-active.htm
Website describes how to get active as a family with tips for activities to do with your children.

Websites on Diabetes

http://www.diabetes.org
website for the American Diabetes Association.  

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes
Official website for the Division of Diabetes Translation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://ndep.nih.gov/
NDEP is a partnership of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 200 public and private organizations.  

http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/Diabetes/index.asp
Official website for the Indian Health Service Diabetes Program.

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/DiabetesPregnancy/
Website describes several types of Diabetes, how Diabetes affects your health during pregnancy and your baby health during pregnancy.

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/consumer/groups.htm
Website describes Diabetes among women and racial/ethnic groups, good section on Gestational Diabetes, gives resources, section on women, aging and Diabetes, section on women veterans and Diabetes.

http://www.ndep.nih.gov/media/nottoolate_tips-508.pdf?redirect=true
A four page booklet on how to prevent Diabetes, provides tips for adults, determining risk for Diabetes, and provides information on exercise and healthy eating.

http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/gestational/index.aspx

A complete discussion on Gestational Diabetes – what it is, how it is diagnosed, how it is treated, after  pregnancy and further risk for Gestational Diabetes with subsequent pregnancies and risk for Type 2 Diabetes after pregnancy.

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cdapp/Pages/SweetSuccessMaterials.aspx
his website contains the same information and materials for the public on Gestational Diabetes

In 2010, at the State Capitol, the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women presented the "Reduce Incarceration of Women: A Public Agenda Action Plan" a collaborative, non-partisan statewide initiative of action strategies to reduce the incarceration rate of women in Oklahoma to less than the national average by 2020 by using evidence-based practices and policies.

The purpose of the Summit was to seek assistance of all Oklahomans to reduce the rate of non- violent low-risk women offenders while enhancing public safety and expanding cost efficiencies. The Commission partnered with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and the Oklahoma Women's Coalition.

The Oklahoma SIS* project brought together a 42-member panel of experts and leaders in the field of women's incarceration in Oklahoma. Panelists reviewed and distilled years of recommendations and research into a comprehensive plan of action for addressing the highest incarceration rate of women in the nation. As part of the year-long project, a diverse group of some 200 state leaders, individuals, governmental and non-governmental entities adopted the plan at an issues summit April 30, 2010.

* Solutions initiatives Strategies.

Overarching Strategies

• Interrupt the pathways to incarceration.
• Expand critical services to at-risk individuals, populations, and communities.
• Enhance public safety while implementing/expanding lower cost alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent female offenders.
• Remove barriers and provide support for successful return from incarceration to society.

Strategic Life Span Change Areas

• Prevention: Strategies to reduce common pathways and factors that can contribute to later incarceration
• Intervention and Diversion: Strategies to intervene and address risk factors both before and after contact with law enforcement and/or strategies to divert low-risk nonviolent offenders from incarceration
• Recidivism and Reentry: Strategies that support rehabilitation of offenders, reduce recidivism, and enable offenders to successfully reenter the community after imprisonment

For additional information, visit our Helpful Links page.