No place to go: Oklahomans with felony convictions face barriers to affordable housing

This report was funded by a grant from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation. [See the full issue brief] Oklahoma’s tough-on-crime criminal justice ethos results in one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in the US. Thousands of these incarcerated… Read more [More...]

Upcoming Event: Oklahoma Watch forum on low-income neighborhoods

Nonprofit news organization Oklahoma Watch and the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication will host a public forum about challenges in low-income neighborhoods in south Oklahoma City. The event is Thursday, April 16, 6-7 p.m. at… Read more [More...]

Who Pays More? A Town Hall Forum on Predatory Lending in Oklahoma

Oklahoma Assets Network (OAN) is pleased to invite you to save the date for a town hall forum on predatory lending. This event is free and open to the public. The forum will feature remarks from Dr. Haydar Kurban, the… Read more [More...]

This new school meals program helps high-poverty kids and schools

Last spring, we reported on a powerful new tool to fight hunger in high-poverty schools. Community Eligibility, part of 2010’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, allows certain high-poverty schools, groups of schools, or school districts to offer breakfast and lunch to… Read more [More...]

Up Against The Wall, or how I pay the state to lock up my brother (Guest post: Camille Landry)

Camille Landry is a writer, activist, and social justice advocate who lives in Oklahoma City.  This post is part of our “Neglected Oklahoma” series, which tells the stories of Oklahomans in situations where the basic necessities of life are hard… Read more [More...]

Sleeping dogs of the 2015 session

The 2015 session is now underway and it’s clear that this year, as always, will feature heated debates on a multitude of contentious issues, from proposals to expand school choice through vouchers and charter schools to efforts to rein in… Read more [More...]

To help kids, help parents

mother and child About 168,000 children age 5 and younger in Oklahoma live in low-income families (making less than 200 percent of the poverty threshold, or $47,000 for a family of four). Like most families in America, the parents of these young children … Read more [More...]

Schools alone can’t overcome poverty. They need a community.

We need a whole community to meet the needs of the whole child.The community school model is a cost-effective, national reform strategy that seeks to do just that. [More...]

Marriage won’t end poverty

Poverty in Oklahoma is at a six-year high. Recent Census numbers showed that more than one in six Oklahomans – and almost one in four children – live in poverty. Even as we are lauded for our economic successes, the… Read more [More...]

A ‘Culture of Poverty’ and Other Myths

This presentation was given by policy analyst Kate Richey, on 4/24/12 and discusses common myths surrounding poverty, data on people living in poverty in Oklahoma, and an overview of the structural barriers to moving up the economic ladder.… Read more [More...]