Making more bricks with less straw: Agency heads share thoughts on operating in hard times

At last week’s Fall Legislative Forum organized by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, a panel of state agency directors discussed some of the accomplishments and continuing challenges facing Oklahoma government. Taking part in the panel were leaders from the… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: OICA's Fall Legislative Forum, Tuesday, October 11 at UCO

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy is hosting a Legislative Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the University of Central Oklahoma. Participants at this year’s Forum will hear a state budget overview from OK Policy Director David Blatt and listen… Read more [More...]

Watch This: Reducing Infant Mortality

Oklahoma has the 6th highest infant mortality rate and 2nd highest black infant mortality rate in the country.  Among black babies, the infant mortality rate in Oklahoma today is comparable to the 1970s national average for all races.  This fantastic… Read more [More...]

Play It Again: The cliff effect – "Sorry, I can't afford that raise"

Last week, the Department of Human Services announced new co-payment and eligibility rules for the child care subsidy program, which we discussed in this post. By lowering the eligibility threshold for subsidies, the new rules will worsen the “cliff effect”… Read more [More...]

Child care cuts deal a blow to low-income working families and kids

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services this week approved changes to the state’s child care subsidy program that  will increase hardships for struggling low-income working families, threaten access to quality child care, and harm child care providers who serve low-income… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: Fall Forum for child advocates

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s annual Fall Children’s Legislative Forum will be held Tuesday, October 12th and Wednesday, October 13th.  The theme this year is “Protect Kids”, and the main goal of the event will be to create consensus… Read more [More...]

The cliff effect: "Sorry, I can't afford that raise"

In recent years, whenever I’ve participated in forums on poverty and barriers to self-sufficiency, the single barrier raised most often and most fervently by those who work with low-income individuals and by low-income individuals themselves is the “cliff effect”. A… Read more [More...]