OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 3, 2021) – Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) has released the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Annual Report. The program information, data and personal stories of hope illustrate the agency’s depth in serving Oklahomans.
“I share in nearly every interaction I have, inside and outside the agency, my gratitude for serving alongside the true heroes at work within OKDHS,” said Cabinet Secretary for Human Services and OKDHS Director, Justin Brown. “Our agency serves one in three Oklahomans each year and the work of our team breaks down barriers to help families achieve personal success. Our work is critical to creating pathways that will have positive generational impacts on families.”
OKDHS achieved significant milestones in FY21, including moving closer to the goal of eliminating the Waiting List for Developmental Disabilities Services, the highest percentage of children exiting state custody to safely reunify with their biological families in many years and keeping food on the table for more than 395,000 families through the distribution of more than $1.7B worth of food benefits, just to name a few.
The agency also stepped forward to serve families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through services and support in nearly every program area. Agency staff in Adult and Family Services collaborated with the Oklahoma State Department of Education to distribute Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) benefits to more than 400,000 Oklahoma children whose free or reduced-priced school meals were interrupted due to school closures. OKDHS used federal COVID-19 stimulus funding to provide direct payments, resources and training to child care providers who kept their programs open to serve Oklahoma’s working families. Additionally, beginning in May 2020, OKDHS offered 60 days of subsidized child care to parents who had lost employment due to the pandemic.
One of the many stories in the FY21 annual report focuses on a customer served through the Education and Training (E&T) program offered to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
Michael Lewis had spent more than 20 years with his previous employer in the food service industry and, after suddenly losing his job, had been without work for more than a year despite many attempts to get back into the job market.
“I was searching for jobs online and I wasn’t getting many calls back or many interviews,” said Lewis. “I was at my lowest point.”
The Work Ready Oklahoma program, a partnership between OKDHS and Public Strategies (PS), taught Lewis to embrace his strengths and grow skills that ultimately helped him become the manager of Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers in Midwest City, a job that is not only right for him and his skills, but also helped him achieve financial stability.
“It’s an awesome program,” said Lewis. “I had options and could pick and choose where I wanted to work. Freddy’s is a good fit for me and I’m very excited about it because I’m in the people business. I get to help customers and help young people on my team develop good work habits. Those things are important to me.”
“E&T can be life changing for our participants,” said Chabria Easter, Senior Manager of Self-Sufficiency Programs at PS. “They are some of the most resilient, hardworking and courageous individuals I’ve ever met. Many of them just need some guidance and connections to the right people to get them where they want to go. They are truly the pilots of their own planes – we’re just the flight crew.”
To read more about OKDHS’s work to support Oklahoma families in FY21, the full OKDHS Annual Report can be accessed at ourOKDHS.org.
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