DHS receives approval to launch efforts to reduce need for foster care, recruit adoptive families

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) has received approval from the federal government to begin a project to safely reduce the need for foster care services, and to create a new approach to recruiting families for children with special needs waiting the longest for adoption. 

“It is an unfortunate fact that Oklahoma has experienced a more than 40 percent increase in the number of children placed in our foster care system over the past three years,” said Deborah Smith, DHS Director of Child Welfare Services. “The majority of these children were placed in foster care as a result of neglect, not physical or sexual abuse. A recent study of this issue revealed that many of these children could have safely stayed in their homes had more intensive, home-based services been available to their families.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau (HHS) is offering states the opportunity to submit proposals for new approaches to prevent foster care placements and improve outcomes for children. Through these “demonstration projects” as they are being called, the federal government allows funds intended to care for children in foster care to be used with more flexibility. These are not new federal dollars, but rather flexible funding the agency can use at the front end for prevention services to keep children safe and families together in lieu of placing children in foster care.

DHS submitted a proposal to HHS and just received approval to begin implementation. The agency intends to incorporate these efforts into the Pinnacle Plan, the state’s plan to improve the foster care system.

“We are pleased to approve 10 new demonstrations this year,” said JooYeun Chang, Associate Commissioner for the Children’s Bureau at HHS. “This is an exciting time for child welfare reform. These projects offer a tremendous opportunity to improve child welfare services for children and families in the participating jurisdictions, while also generating knowledge that can benefit children across all states. We look forward to working with Oklahoma to ensure successful implementation of the project.”

The Pinnacle Plan includes initiatives to expand in-home services. This flexible funding will allow DHS to provide more intensive safety services to families in their homes and to avoid removal of children when that is determined to be a safe option. As the project moves forward and demonstrates success, DHS plans to incorporate these services into permanency work to help children reunify faster with their families or find adoptive families. 

“We are excited about this opportunity to safely reduce the need for foster care by giving Oklahoma children and families the right service, at the right time and in the right place,” said Smith.

HHS also awarded DHS a $500,000 grant to launch the “Adopt OK Kids Network” which will create new and innovative ways to recruit, retain, and support adoptive families for children and youth with special needs.

“Oklahoma has too many children and youth in its foster care system that have waited far too long for an adoptive family,” said Smith. “This grant will allow us to focus our efforts on finding the right families for a large group of these children and develop inventive ways of recruiting adoptive families in the process.”

Over the next 17 months, this project will focus its efforts on 100 children and youth in Tulsa County waiting the longest for adoption because of their age, special needs status or because they are part of a large sibling group. The goals of this project are to reduce the number of youth aging out of the foster care system without a permanent family, and to incorporate lessons learned throughout the state’s child welfare system.

###