OICA.org

 The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy creates
  awareness, takes action and changes policy on behalf of children.

Legislative session is a busy time for The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. Legislators convene Feb. 6 and meet regularly through May 25; this is the time we, as child advocates, must step up to the plate and be the voice for our state’s children. We believe children need to be Safe, be Healthy and be HEARD. It is up to us to ensure those needs are met, but we need your help too. Please plan on staying informed about bills that will affect you and your family throughout the process by making us your resource. Sign up for weekly legislative updates.

Click HERE for a brief summary about how and why Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy works to improve the lives of Oklahoma's children.

Here is a look at our top legislative priorities during the 2012 legislative session:

The Serenity Project: DHS Child Welfare Reform

Click the title to read more in a fact sheet format.

As Co-Chair of The Foster Care System Improvement Task Force, we have worked tirelessly with other child advocates and law enforcement officials across the state to investigate and evaluate the broken parts of Oklahoma’s child welfare system. In our view, there is no acceptable level of abuse of children and we have no greater obligation than to protect the safety of Oklahoma’s children. OICA supports the following DHS reforms to ensure no child ever dies while in the custody of the state.

• Privatization of the placement and support services for foster care families, which will allow child welfare workers to focus on keeping Oklahoma children safe.
• The Legislature should direct DHS to increase the pay of child welfare workers and tie the increases to performance in order to attract and retain high quality, professional and compassionate advocates for children.
• Every child welfare worker should receive additional trauma training so they are better prepared to keep our children safe.
• Public-private partnerships should be allowed and encouraged to provide services for at-risk families so fewer children are placed into the foster care system - lessening the case load of child welfare workers.

Click the title to read more in a fact sheet format.

Every child in Oklahoma deserves the opportunity to succeed – even if one or both of their parents are incarcerated. Our children should not be punished along with their offending parent.

More than 26,000 children on any given day in Oklahoma have a parent in prison. Many of these children suffer trauma from the loss of a parent who has been incarcerated and are no longer able to be the primary caregiver for their child.

These invisible victims and the trauma they endure are the unintended consequences of an incarcerated parent. Such children are more likely to perform poorly in school, more likely to end up in prison and less likely to enter the workforce – creating an economic development nightmare for Oklahoma’s future prosperity. OICA supports these common sense justice reforms, as recommended from a statewide task force of child advocates and law enforcement officials, aimed at protecting the lives of these children and improving Oklahoma’s economic prosperity.

• We should support and promote interaction between a child and an incarcerated parent when it is in the best interests of the child.
• The legislature should eliminate barriers that prevent children of incarcerated parents from accessing quality healthcare.
• The use of alternative sentencing using evidence-based intervention strategies and services targeted to reduce criminal risk factors is a positive first step in keeping more children in the care of their parents.
• The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth should be designated as a clearinghouse for research and services for children with an incarcerated parent so we have accurate data to keep track of these kids.

It may seem far off, but the 2012 legislative session will be here before we know it. The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy is the voice for Oklahoma children at the Capitol and we are working daily to make sure lawmakers know the issues Oklahoma children face. 

A quarter of children under age 6 live in poverty. Many of those children live in rural areas where resources and services are scarce. About 5 percent of poor children are growing up without a parent. 

Clearly, the children of Oklahoma need a voice and say in what happens at our state Capitol to grow up safe, healthy and prepared to compete for jobs of the future.  

House Speaker Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, announced that Oklahoma has been chosen for the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, funded by the Department of Justice. This initiative will analyze criminal justice data and implement policies that reduce both crime rates and Oklahoma's prison population. A collaboration of the Council of State Governments, politicians from both parties, prosecutors, judges, law enforcement agencies, and the Department of Corrections will carry out the project. During the interim, the coalition will look at data about the makeup of Oklahoma's inmate population, the factors that increase violent crime, and the supervision of offenders after they are released. Speaker Steele hopes to use this information to propose legislation next session, before he is term limited. Speaker Steele stated, "The idea is not necessarily to spend less dollars, but to spend them more effectively and wisely."

• State spending on the Department of Corrections has increased by 32 percent in the past 10 years.
• Oklahoma incarcerates more women per capita than any other state in the nation.
• Oklahoma ranks third overall in our incarceration rate.
• Oklahoma has the 11th highest violent crime rate in the country.

Read more:

News9: Okla. tapped for intensive criminal justice study

The Oklahoman: House speaker building on corrections reform

Tulsa World: Justice system examined in Oklahoma's top-rank for female incarcerations

Lawmakers held true to their word and ended the 2011 legislative session a week early. Senators and representatives wrapped up their work Friday afternoon. We will be compiling a full legislative session analysis next week. Here are the highlights from the last week of the legislative session.