OKPOLICY.ORG
The House Appropriations and Budget Subcommittee on Human Services, led by Chairman Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, and Vice Chair Emily Gise, R-Oklahoma City, held a series of interim studies last week ranging widely on Oklahoma’s services to families, children, and youth.
The studies began by looking at Family Resource Centers (FRCs) which aim to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect by providing services like parent skill training, job assistance, substance abuse prevention and other community support.
The lead agency for FRCs is the Oklahoma State Department of Health. FRCs employ a flexible model for providing community-based services, usually through partnerships with existing agencies, that seek to meet the needs of families where they are. Services vary across communities based on needs and existing options.
Another issue that was looked at by the committee was the law and practices regarding competency of juveniles to stand trial. There has been a lot of publicity in the past year about adults who are held in jail pending trial because they have been found by a judge to be incompetent to stand trial. The state entered a consent decree requiring the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to shorten the time a defendant is in pretrial confinement waiting for treatment to be restored to competency.
But the issue with juveniles is different. The committee heard from local and national experts on the need to make an initial determination of competency more often before the juvenile goes to court. Generally, competency means that a person can understand the proceedings, confer with their lawyer, and aid in their defense. Adults are usually found to be incompetent because of mental illness or intellectual disability.
For juveniles an additional factor, not so obvious, makes the determination more complicated. Because they are young, the degree of brain development and maturity of the child should be considered. The committee heard testimony that in Oklahoma, many children are adjudicated or convicted of offenses, usually by stipulating their guilt, who are not competent to be tried. The result is they enter “the system” without first receiving the treatment they need.
Finally, the committee received input from the state’s detention facilities. Statutorily, detention facilities are licensed and contracted by the Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) with either juvenile bureaus, counties or private entities. Due to changes in federal and state law, the detainees in juvenile detention facilities nowadays are accused of much more serious and violent offenses than previously and are therefore more difficult to manage.
Regulations from multiple state agencies that are sometimes interpreted inconsistently by agency employees unfamiliar with detention needs make it difficult to hire and keep employees and manage detention facilities. In addition, the funding rates for detention facilities are woefully inadequate.
It is promising to see Reps. Pae and Gise do a deep dive into complicated challenges in our family services and juvenile justice system that need attention. It’s far better if families and kids can get the help they need before being introduced to judges, prosecutors and detention personnel.
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(For more on youth justice in Oklahoma, read OK Policy’s 2024 report on Reimagining Youth Justice in Oklahoma: A Landscape Report of the Youth Justice System and Recommendations for Reform.)
