OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 1, 2023) – Oklahoma Human Services has released the agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Annual Report. The report details the agency’s incredible work that has provided help and hope to more than one million Oklahomans throughout the past year.
After an historic investment by Governor Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma legislature to eliminate the state’s 13-year waitlist for Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS), the DDS team is on track to fulfill its original timeline to eliminate the waitlist in 2024. In FY23, 924 individuals were approved for services.
In the last fiscal year, the agency distributed $362 million in funds designed to stabilize the child care industry. Additionally, child care desert grants helped providers open or expand their programs to serve even more children and families. In FY23, more than 124,000 children attended licensed child care across the state. The agency also launched a new Child Care Locator to help families find quality child care in their community.
These are just some of the countless positive impacts made by 6,100 dedicated Oklahoma Human Services staff across the state, each of whom remain committed to delivering needed services to Oklahomans. The department’s goals drive us to become program innovators, strategically engage with our communities, build systems that support families, and to place value on the people we serve and on our workforce who implement those services every day. We are incredibly proud of our teams in all divisions across our agency.
“Many years ago, in a medical clinic not so far from where I sit right now, I served as a pediatrician treating kids who were in foster care. While I was meant to heal their bodies and help those caring for them navigate difficult medical and life situations, their stories burrowed deeply into my soul,” said Dr. Deborah Shropshire, Oklahoma Secretary of Human Services and Director of Oklahoma Human Services. “There are countless stories I could share from the more than 60 program areas across this agency, and countless more yet to be written. But, what I know for sure – as sure as I knew it all those years ago in that medical clinic up the road – is that our employees will be here tomorrow and every day that follows, with outstretched hands and open hearts ready to offer help and hope to the Oklahomans who need us.”
To watch meaningful stories and learn more about each program’s efforts to improve the wellbeing of communities across the state, visit the Library at OKDHS.org to access the full FY23 annual report.
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