By:
Jill Mencke
April 16, 2025 // Updated: April 16, 2025

Oklahoma has an obligation to care for vulnerable youth in our legal and foster systems. This session, Oklahoma legislators have the chance to build upon recent progress to make benefits more accessible and enshrine protections for vulnerable youth in the…
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By:
Dave Hamby
October 21, 2024 // Updated: October 21, 2024

A new OK Policy report examines Oklahoma's youth justice system and suggests reforms to create impactful and transformative change for youth.
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A new report the best way to address chronic absenteeism is for schools to work with parents, students, and community partners, rather than rely on punitive measures.
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By:
Jill Mencke
August 27, 2024 // Updated: December 4, 2024
OK Policy’s Youth Justice Policy Analyst Jill Mencke spoke with lawmakers on August 27, 2024, about the state’s youth justice system. Mencke explores the challenges, disparities, and opportunities within the system, advocating for effective reforms to empower youth and families…
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By:
Jill Mencke
June 13, 2024 // Updated: June 17, 2024

Oklahoma is not known for being a safe and hospitable place for children. Oklahoma, for the second year in a row, ranks 46th nationally in overall child well-being. Lawmakers sought to address this problem in the 2024 session by passing budget increases to vital services like the child welfare and youth justice systems. However, Oklahoma’s structural budget deficit has meant that state agencies and service providers in the child welfare systems have continually been forced to do more with less year after year.
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By:
Jill Mencke
November 2, 2023 // Updated: November 8, 2023

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With the overall occurrence of youth delinquency and detention at a historic low, Oklahoma has the opportunity to invest more resources in delinquency prevention and alternatives to incarceration in the youth legal system. The legislature has taken…
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By:
Steve Lewis
November 1, 2023 // Updated: November 1, 2023

Rep. Amanda Swope, D-Tulsa, who in her life outside the legislature is the Tribal Juvenile Justice Program Director for the Muscogee Nation, brought her passion for helping troubled youth with her when she was elected to the House of Representatives.…
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By:
Dave Hamby
August 8, 2022 // Updated: August 8, 2022

Data from 2020 show nearly 1 in 8 Oklahoma children reported anxiety or depression, according to new Annie E. Casey Foundation report
2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Oklahoma 2022 KIDS COUNT Fact Sheet
Oklahoma KIDS COUNT Data Map dashboard
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Justice-involved youth have faced a heightened risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Youthful offenders, already likely burdened with childhood trauma and the stress of separation from family, faced considerable risks living in shared facilities with other youths during a highly infectious global pandemic.
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On March 28, the Oklahoma Policy Institute released its latest report, which focuses on the state's youth justice system. To celebrate the report's release, OK Policy held an online panel discussion to look more deeply at issues impacting the state's youth justice system and the issues raised in the report.
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