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Created by HB 1359, by Rep. Ron Peters and Sen. Rick Brinkley, the Foster Care Reform Task Force began meeting in June to examine what happens to Oklahoma children in the state's foster care system. The task force, comprised of 23 representatives from various groups including tribal child welfare, the judicial system, foster parents and foster youth, will make recommendations to the legislature by January 2012.

To come up with recommendations, task force members have discussed the varied needs of foster care youth in three different age groups: birth to 5; 6 to 11; and 12 to 18. The group discussed the specific needs of each age group as they formulate their final recommendations. Additional legislation will be required to implement any policy recommendations from the task force. Task force members have also heard from the National Conference on State Legislatures about what works well in other states to ensure that children leaving the state's foster care system are safe, loved and have goals for the future. A small group of task force members also travelled to Kansas in August to look at how Kansas uses a private, non-profit group to recruit and retain foster parents.

Staff support for the task force is provided by the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth Board Member Jay Scott Brown and Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy Executive Director Linda Terrell are the co-chairs of the task force.

 Read Board Member Jay Scott Brown's opinion piece in The Oklahoman.

WHY IT MATTERS

In 2010, there were 8,400 children in out-of-home care. Task force members want to ensure that children grow up happy, healthy and safe with hopes and goals for a bright future. Creating a system that not only ensures children thrive in out-of-home care, but also supports foster parents who choose to nurture children is essential to Oklahoma's future. When ALL of our children are healthy and strong – Oklahoma IS strong.