OK Policy Blog

Featured Read

Black and Latino children in Oklahoma are still more likely to live in concentrated poverty

By: Rebecca Fine
September 24, 2019 // Updated: October 4, 2019
A new KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot shows that many children in Oklahoma live in high-poverty communities that often lack these vital necessities. In Oklahoma, Black and Latino children are more than four times as likely to live in areas of concentrated poverty (census tracts where 30 percent or more of the population lives in poverty). More...

Recent Posts

Meet OK Policy: Nicole Poindexter, Outreach and Legislative Liaison

By: Oklahoma Policy Institute
October 18, 2019 // Updated: October 18, 2019
My favorite thing about doing this work is that I get to help change the lives of Oklahomans in real ways. [More...]

Fixing Oklahoma’s outdated criminal code could be a great step forward but policymakers should be wary of risks.

By: Damion Shade
October 16, 2019 // Updated: October 16, 2019
Reform of the state's criminal code is long overdue — as the code is a major driver of Oklahoma’s expensive incarceration crisis. [More...]

Justice reform for the children (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
October 14, 2019 // Updated: October 14, 2019
These are sobering findings for Oklahomans struggling to overcome the political hurdles preventing us from dealing with overincarceration [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Incarcerated youth; meet Sabine Brown; & more

By: Jessica Vazquez
October 13, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
This week, we wrapped up our analysis of Open Justice Oklahoma's (OJO) recent juvenile justice report by exploring how incarceration can disrupt youths' lives. [More...]

To minimize disruption to youths’ lives, Oklahoma must continue to reduce juvenile incarceration

By: Ashley Harvey
October 9, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
For justice-involved youth, current systems can remove them from educational opportunities, family, and community during a critical time in their lives, often severing their link to meaningful relationships and inadvertently further embedding them into a life of crime. [More...]

Stop complaining about SQ 780 and make it work (Capitol Update)

By: Steve Lewis
October 7, 2019 // Updated: October 7, 2019
Before SQ 780, thousands of people afflicted with a drug problem were arrested and sent to prison. The people of Oklahoma took control of this issue. It's time now for DAs and sheriffs to quit complaining about it and make it work. [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Racial disparities in juvenile justice; Hepatitis C in prisons, & more

By: Jessica Vazquez
October 6, 2019 // Updated: October 5, 2019
This week, we revisited Open Justice Oklahoma's (OJO) recent report which found that while juvenile crime in Oklahoma has plummeted, racial and local disparities remain. [More...]

All Oklahoma children deserve a fair and equal juvenile justice system

By: Ashley Harvey
October 2, 2019 // Updated: October 12, 2019
The justice system will continue to be unfair to people of color unless lawmakers take deliberate steps to fix it. Closing the gap in these disparities for youth is necessary for long-term justice reform in our state. [More...]

Hepatitis C in Oklahoma prisons is an expensive time bomb

By: Damion Shade
October 1, 2019 // Updated: October 2, 2019
Oklahoma must invest in a comprehensive treatment plan for the growing hepatitis C crisis in our prisons before the cost of treatment and the human toll of this crisis become unmanageable.   [More...]

The Weekly Wonk: Poverty week; no good reason not to expand Medicaid; & more

By: Jessica Vazquez
September 29, 2019 // Updated: September 28, 2019
This week, we focused on poverty in Oklahoma and emphasized policy solutions to help our families get ahead. [More...]

Search the Blog