By:
Steve Lewis
February 17, 2020 // Updated: February 17, 2020

After 19 years of advocacy for mental health services, Steve Buck came to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs with a strong commitment to serving youth, tempered with an eye toward the most efficient expenditure of taxpayer money. His primary goal was prevention, always seeking to follow the data and make services available to troubled youth as early as possible. He insisted the best chance of success in a young person's life, at the least cost to taxpayers, is early intervention with evidence-based or evidence-informed services.
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By:
Dave Hamby
February 16, 2020 // Updated: February 14, 2020

In her weekly Journal Record column, OK Policy Executive Director Ahniwake Rose focused on how Oklahomans can use advocacy to make changes they wish to see in the state. OK Policy and its Together Oklahoma advocacy program held a series of community conversations last week about supporting working Oklahomans through smart policy decisions, including making the Earned Income Tax Credit refundable again.
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By:
Steve Lewis
February 10, 2020 // Updated: February 10, 2020

There is an issue flying under the radar that may surface sometime during the Legislative session. This is the placing of a statutory cap on what are called "non-economic" damages in personal injury cases.
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On Monday, Governor Stitt delivered his State of the State address where he provided his vision for how Oklahoma can move forward.
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By:
Dave Hamby
February 3, 2020 // Updated: February 4, 2020

Oklahoma’s leadership has consistently called for the state to achieve Top 10 status. The rhetoric, however, often lacks a yardstick about how we measure our state’s success.
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In the run-up to the Legislative session beginning this week, two things happened that could affect mental health services for thousands of Oklahomans.
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During comments in Washington D.C. on Thursday, Gov. Stitt laid out the tenets for his health care plan to counter Medicaid expansion efforts. The plan includes elements that will inevitably draw lawsuits from health care organizations and advocates who fight to protect the rights and coverage of low-income residents.
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By:
Dave Hamby
January 31, 2020 // Updated: June 29, 2021

OK Policy has determined its focus areas for Oklahoma’s upcoming legislative session based on the organization’s original research, analysis, and feedback from state residents.
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By:
Paul Shinn
January 30, 2020 // Updated: February 18, 2020

Retired Oklahoma state and local public servants have now gone 10 years without a cost of living adjustment, while inflation has eaten away at their income.
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By:
Steve Lewis
January 28, 2020 // Updated: January 28, 2020

Most educators will tell you suspension doesn't work for the children. They act out, get suspended then return to school, behind in their work and either embarrassed or pleased by their suspension. Often nothing is offered to the child during suspension but days off from school. Suspension becomes a feeder for the criminal justice system.
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