Note: In September, the Attorney General’s office issued a letter addressing whether the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services had acted improperly in approving changes to the state’s child care subsidy program at a June meeting without going through the official rulemaking process.  The letter was prompted by concerns raised by DHS Commissioner Steven Dow. I spoke with Commissioner Dow (who is my former employer and a former Oklahoma Policy Institute Board member) on September 30th; this is an edited transcript of our conversation.

David Blatt:   Could you describe the concerns that gave rise to the Attorney General’s letter?

Steven Dow:  Well, the concerns were not related to the wisdom of the policy but rather to the question of whether or not procedurally the DHS Commission was acting properly in revising the child care eligibility and co-payment schedule. It was my understanding that according to Oklahoma law, in order to change the eligibility standards and the co-pay schedule, we were required to follow the Administrative Procedures Act .  So that question was posed to the Attorney General’s office, not in the form of an actual binding AG’s opinion but to get their ‘advice’.

David:  What did the AG determine? Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, December 6th, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institute will be giving a lecture titled, “Creating an Opportunity Society” as part of the Policy and Practice Lecture series organized by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services and University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held from noon to 1 pm at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Click here for full details.

Dr. Haskins is a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution and senior consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, MD. He is widely acknowledged as among the nation’s foremost experts on social welfare policy, having served as Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush for Welfare Policy and as a top Congressional staffperson. Dr. Haskins has published books and articles on a number of education-related topics, including intellectual development, day-care policy, federal expenditures on social programs and federal budget and tax policy, including Creating an Opportunity Society, a book that he co-authored with Isabel Sawhill.

His Oklahoma City talk will address indicators of poverty and policy recommendations founded on four values-based premises about the appropriate role of government.  The lecture is sponsored by the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative and OKDHS Family Support Services Division.

Today we released the 19th issue of our monthly Numbers You Need bulletin, which tracks monthly and quarterly data for key economic indicators. As in many recent months, the overall economic news was mixed: a slight increase in employment and rebound in state revenues, offset by continued high numbers of bankruptcy filings. But while we have seen  fluctuations in many indicators of the state’s economic well-being over the course of the economic downturn,  one constant has been an increasing number of Oklahomans turning to public programs for assistance with food and medical care. In March, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps) rose for the 24th consecutive month (it has since risen again in April and May). Meanwhile, enrollment rose for the 15th straight month in March in SoonerCare (Medicaid), the federal-state health insurance program for low-income individuals in various categories.

This chart (which is based on DHS monthly statistical bulletins available here) shows monthly participation for both programs going back to January 2008: Read the rest of this entry »

On January 11th, Chad Wilkerson, the Branch Executive of the Oklahoma City office of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will be giving a free public lecture on “The Economy Around Us: Recession and Recovery”. Wilkerson, who serves as the Federal Reserve’s regional economist, will look at historical business cycles and current economic trends to offer his assessment of what to expect of the Oklahoma economy as the national recovery begins to take hold. We heard Chad speak on the economy back in April and can highly recommend him as a  perceptive and well-informed presenter.

The talk, which will take place from 12 – 1 pm at the Oklahoma History Center, is part of the Policy & Practice lecture series hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Statistics and University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management. Other speakers in the Spring 2010 series include Harvard economics professor David Cutler addressing health care reform; NPR correspondent John Hockenberry on eliminating stereotypes; and Charles Wilson of the Center for Children and Families in San Diego on the impact of childhood trauma.

This week we released the November issue of Numbers You Need (PDF), our monthly look at key data on the state’s economy  and budget. As we reported in the bulletin, one of the clearest signs of the depth and length of the economic downturn is that participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, rose for the seventeenth consecutive month in August. The program provided benefits to 524,536 people in August, an all-time high, and an increase of 27.3 percent compared to March 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

If you look closely at our most recent Numbers You Need summary of Oklahoma economic and fiscal indicators, you’ll find a puzzle. On one hand, economic hardship is evident.

Oklahoma’s unemployment rate continued its rapid ascent in April, climbing to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.2 percent. This is its highest level since July 2003…The number of Oklahomans receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps) rose for the twelfth consecutive month in March, reaching an all-time high of 450,057 persons. Similarly, enrollment in the SoonerCare health insurance program increased by 1.2 percent in March and was up by 4.5 percent compared to one year prior.

Contrary to what you’d expect, though, the bad news is not reflected in use of the most basic piece of the safety net. Participation in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federal block grant that helps fund job training, work supports, and, in some instances, short-term cash payments for low-income single parents, is virtually unchanged. There were only 230 (1.2 percent) more people receiving TANF cash assistance in March than a year ago. How can this be when the economy is shedding jobs and every other measure shows tens of thousands of people in need?

We have remarked before on  participation in the cash assistance portion of TANF and noted that we help a considerably smaller segment of the poor population than most other states. We want to know why, in the face of obvious need, we aren’t helping more of our fellow Oklahomans.

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 »

When legislative leaders and the Governor announced the FY ’10 budget deal last Friday, they stated that the agreement “protects the four core functions of government, including education, health care, corrections and transportation.” It may not be that simple. The Department of Human Services, the agency that operates programs primarily serving vulnerable children, families, seniors, and persons with disabilities, was dealt a cut of $9.4 million for FY ’10 compared to FY ’09. Even though this cut equals only 1.68 percent of agency appropriations, it is becoming apparent that DHS could be hard-pressed to continue operating existing programs. For this agency, and likely several others, we may not know what is protected, and how, for months after the Legislature heads home tomorrow.

The FY ’10 budget agreement allocates $549.7 million for FY ’10, of which $71.4 million is federal stimulus money associated with enhanced federal matching rates on the agency’s Medicaid-eligible expenditures. At its April Commission meeting, Director Howard Hendrick presented the emerging FY ’10 budget picture for the agency. He asserted that DHS required $665.8 million in state funds for FY ’10, which amounts to an increase of $106.6 million compared to FY ’09 appropriations. Based on the figures presented to the Commission, the $9.4 million funding cut means DHS could be facing a shortfall of up to $115 million in FY ’10.

Read the rest of this entry »

In November, U.S. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana proposed that all applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program be required to submit to a mandatory drug test as a condition of receiving assistance. His proposal was defeated on a vote of 79-18, with a majority of Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it.

Now the Oklahoma Legislature is considering similar legislation as a conference committee substitute for SB 390.The language being proposed reads:

The Department of Human Services shall establish a program of drug testing for those persons applying for or receiving assistance pursuant to the TANF program. Those persons identified as in need of substance abuse services shall be conditionally eligible to receive assistance pursuant to this subsection provided that the applicant participate in the recommended substance abuse services.

The bill as it originally passed the Senate and House called for a program of drug screening, rather than drug testing, for TANF applicants.

Read the rest of this entry »