For media inquiries only, contact:
Keili McEwen, OKDHS Communications Director
Phone: 405-397-3885
Email: Keili.McEwen@okdhs.org

OKLAHOMA CITY (July 9, 2021) - The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) has received the latest co-neutrals commentary for progress on the Pinnacle Plan, the state's foster care reform plan.

This report, covering the period of July 1, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020, represents the first time since the inception of the Pinnacle Plan in 2012 that the co-neutrals have recognized the agency for achieving good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress in all 30 of the measured target outcomes.

The commentary states that many of the improvements reported are the result of years of investment from Oklahoma and OKDHS’ efforts to create a safer and more effective child welfare system, and that the OKDHS senior management team is focused, transparent and deeply engaged in and committed to this work.

"I am pleased to see that independent experts are validating the transformational work being done by OKDHS employees to improve our state's foster care system,” said Gov. Kevin Stitt. “This is an important step in the process and I know Secretary Brown and his team will continue their efforts to make Oklahoma a Top Ten state."

Data through the end of the reporting period in Dec. 2020 showed 7,562 children and youth in state custody, down from the peak of 11,301 children in custody in 2007. This decline represents more children exiting than entering state care each year due in part to the agency’s efforts to ensure children and youth don’t linger in the foster care system but rather return home, are adopted or enter into a legal guardianship, as well as streamlining services focused on the needs of individual children.

This commentary recognized good faith efforts toward the target outcome of providing family-based placements for children with higher therapeutic care needs, noting the development and early implementation of an enhanced foster care (EFC) program, but also flags this as an area that the agency must continue to reform. The EFC program, a service category within the Continuum of Care (CoC), was developed to respond to the complex behavioral, medical, developmental, and mental health needs of children in state custody, and provides individualized services and supports based on a child’s specific needs, along with coordination and collaboration of services between providers.

The commentary also noted strong effort in the area of achieving permanency within 12 months stating that OKDHS has established a new monthly tracking mechanism and accountability practice to help ensure the department identifies and addresses early common barriers present in a child’s case that can delay timely permanency.

“I am incredibly proud of the work of our child welfare staff and partners across the state to improve our system and yield better outcomes, and we appreciate the recognition from the co-neutrals of our efforts,” said Dr. Deborah Shropshire, Director of OKDHS Child Welfare Services. “But, our work is never done. We are focused on a system that serves the individual needs of children and we are committed to sustained positive action for our families. We will continue to be nimble and resilient without ever wavering from our mission as we all recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We can’t do this work alone. We continue to need our partners and neighbors to help serve Oklahoma families, whether that be as a therapeutic or traditional foster family or to support families within their own communities before they ever come into crisis because we are steadfast in our belief that every child deserves a loving, permanent home.”

OKDHS continues to seek foster families in every community across the state to serve children, and is working closely with therapeutic foster care agencies, as well as with partner agencies, including the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, to develop additional services and supports for foster families willing to care for children with greater behavioral health needs.

"Supporting families, protecting children and providing permanency for youth are at the heart of the True North goals for Child Welfare Services, and we are pleased to see the continued positive progress made in these areas recognized in the commentary," said Director Justin Brown. "While we are grateful to see the co-neutrals recognize the years of hard work that went into reaching this milestone, we are committed to further investing in innovative models and transformational best practices that address deficiencies and improve outcomes. The children and families that we serve, and the citizens of Oklahoma, deserve our agency’s unrelenting focus."

Families interested in learning more about how they can become a certified foster family in their local community can visit https://okfosters.org/ or call 1-800-376-9729. Interested Oklahomans may also visit https://www.ourokdhs.org/s/ to raise their hand and join the agency's efforts to better serve the community through innovation and collaborative partnerships.

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About the Pinnacle Plan

In January 2012, OKDHS settled a class-action lawsuit filed against its foster care system by a child advocacy group. As a result of this settlement, OKDHS created, and in SFY 2013 began to implement, the Oklahoma Pinnacle Plan which was a measurable plan to improve the foster care system. The three out-of-state child welfare experts referred to as "co-neutrals," issue reports every six months on OKDHS' progress and determine whether the agency has made good faith efforts to make improvements in the state's foster care system. This latest report covers a period of time ending Dec. 31, 2020. The sixteen co-neutral commentaries can be found at this link.