The next installment of the Practice and Policy Lecture Series, sponsored in part by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS), will present Oklahoma’s plan to improve child welfare services.  On Friday April 20th, Deborah Smith, Director of OKDHS Children and Family Services, will summarize the efforts planned to improve outcomes for Oklahoma’s 8,000 children in foster care including improving safety, increasing the number of foster homes, and decreasing the length of stay.  The ‘Pinnacle Plan‘ is a key component in settling a federal class action lawsuit.

The lecture will discuss OKDHS’s commitment to:

• equity, where all children, youth and families have access to and receive unbiased treatment and services.
• keeping children safe with their families through prevention services, kinship placements and timely reunification whenever possible.
• ensuring every child is safe while in out-of-home care and custody by matching them with an appropriate, supportive family who can provide for their safety and wellbeing.
• recruiting, retaining, and supporting the best child welfare staff and ensuring they have manageable caseloads and workloads.
• engaging local communities in improving child welfare outcomes.

Deborah G. Smith, M.S.W., was appointed the Director of OKDHS Children and Family Services Division in 2010 and has worked in child welfare services since 1998. She has expertise in child protective services, permanency planning, foster care, the CFSR process, program improvement plans, supervisor case reviews, and the use of data to inform practice and policy.

All lectures are free and open to the public. OKDHS staff can receive training credit for this event. CEUs are available for social workers. For more information contact the Office of Planning, Research and Statistics at 405-521-3552.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2012, NOON TO 1 P.M.
OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER, CHESAPEAKE ROOM

Click here to pre-register.

Note – Occasionally we plan to re-run blog posts on topical subjects that you may have missed the first time around. Last week brought word from DHS that the number of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in Oklahoma plunged last year to 8,618, a drop of 26 percent from last year, and a full 40 percent fewer than at the start of this decade. We reported on the encouraging decline of child abuse cases and possible factors explaining the trend in this post from June (the graph has been updated):

We’re out with our latest Numbers You Need bulletin for June, tracking economic and fiscal trends in Oklahoma and the nation. While the bulletin focuses on monthly and quarterly data on jobs, inflation, work support programs, and the like, each month we present annual data on some indicator of Oklahoma’s general prosperity and well-being. This month we look at the trend in the annual number of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in the state. The news is decidedly encouraging.

Last year’s total of 11,714 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect is the lowest this decade. The rate of child abuse and neglect cases – 13.0 per 1,000 children in the population -  is the lowest since FY ’94 and is down 35 percent from the peak rate of 20.0 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect per 1,000 children in FY ’98.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re out with our latest Numbers You Need bulletin for June, tracking economic and fiscal trends in Oklahoma and the nation. While the bulletin focuses on monthly and quarterly data on jobs, inflation, work support programs, and the like, each month we present annual data on some indicator of Oklahoma’s general prosperity and well-being. This month we look at the trend in the annual number of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in the state. The news is decidedly encouraging.

Last year’s total of 11,714 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect is the lowest this decade. The rate of child abuse and neglect cases – 13.0 per 1,000 children in the population -  is the lowest since FY ’94 and is down 35 percent from the peak rate of 20.0 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect per 1,000 children in FY ’98.

Read the rest of this entry »