INSIDE OKDHS - IN THE NEWS, FEBRUARY 2015

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Mark: Hello everybody, I'm Mark Beutler from the Office of Communications. Let's have a look at what's happening in the news. 

The 30th Annual Black Heritage Celebration was held Friday, February 13th in Oklahoma City. This year's theme was "Onward and Upward." Meritorious service awards were presented to several state employees from the DHS, the Department of Corrections and the Oklahoma Historical Society. Jazz musician Walter Taylor provided the entertainment. Roger Scott is the Programs Assistant Administrator for the DHS Office for Civil Rights. He says even today, "people are still battling injustice and groups who preach hatred toward anyone they see as different." Muskogee hosts their Black Heritage Celebration the 18th, and Tulsa celebrates on the 26th. 

Senior Day at the Capitol is coming up February 23rd. This free event is an opportunity for older Oklahomans and professionals in the field of aging to learn about issues and legislation affecting older Oklahomans. Attendees will have the option to visit legislative offices to share ideas, needs and concerns with state senators and representatives. DHS Aging Services is one of the sponsors of the event and will have information available, along with other governmental and non-profit agencies and sponsors. Visit okseniorday.com for agenda and registration details. 

Be sure to mark your calendar for February 24th for this month's Practice and Policy lecture. The topic is "Prevention in Practice: Child Abuse Prevention Following a Natural Disaster." In preparation for Oklahoma's impending spring storm season, the discussion will address the needs of children and families following a disasterù specifically lessons learned from the Moore tornado a couple of years ago. The speaker will be Clint Williams from the Mary Abbott Children's House in Norman, Oklahoma. The Mary Abbott Children's House is a non-profit center that works closely with law enforcement, child protective services and medical professionals to maintain a safe, victim-centered, child-friendly atmosphere to aid in investigations of alleged child abuse.  Coming up March 12th, nationally known TV personality Matt Paxton, from the A&E channel's "Hoarders" will talk about the serious effects of compulsive hoarding. Paxton is a specialist in extreme clean-up on "Hoarders" which has brought the disorder to broader public attention. The lecture will be a special two-hour event from 11:30 - 1:30. All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, click on the Practice and Policy Lecture Series link at okdhs.org. 

We have a new position and process to share with you today that gives foster parents a centralized resource to report concerns. The Foster Care Ombudsman position was created by Director Ed Lake through the Office of Client Advocacy. The new office will receive, respond to and resolve issues presented by Oklahoma foster parents through a new online reporting system, kfosterparentvoices.org. Professional advocate and former foster parent, Lisa Buck, fills the role of Foster Care Ombudsman and explains the process. 

Lisa Buck: We're trying to funnel everything through an online form, and it can be found at www.okfosterparentvoices.org. When you log onto that, you just fill out a brief form as to what your issues are and what your concerns are. That form is a shared partnership between the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and the Office of Client Advocacy. 

That's a joint process, and then it comes over to our department. Our intake staff reviews it, and they have two days to get back to the complainant. They let them know that we've received it, ask them any questions for clarification, and try to get some more information from them. 

Then, they determine where it's going to be dispositioned. So, it either goes into one of basically three categories. It's either a complaint and those things are: "I'm not getting my money," or "I'm not getting mileage reimbursement," or "I have a question about paperwork and documentation," -
any of the general complaint-type issues. We sort through those first. Then, we have the grievances, and grievances are any violation of the Foster Parent Bill of Rights. 

Mark: The independent, unbiased and responsive system is designed to improve communication with and retention of foster families. Watch the feature video story with Lisa Buck and OCA Advocate General, Kathryn Brewer. It's available now on the infonet. 

Here's some more positive news in the foster care arena. TFI Family Connections - one of the private foster care agencies contracted by DHS - has received an $1,100 grant from the Wyle Corporation CAS Group to help foster families in Lawton. The money was donated by Wyle Corporation employees participating in the company's CAS Cares Initiative and will be used to assist foster families involved with TFI's "Project Wait No More." That project focuses on providing safe, reliable foster care for children and youth in southwest Oklahoma. 

As a partner with the Department of Human Services, TFI helps support families through the foster careapproval process, during placement and care of children in foster homes, and it also helps provide an understanding of the child welfare system. The grant will help TFI increase the foster home base in southwestern Oklahoma and improve existing support services. TFI is headquartered in Kansas but has offices throughout Oklahoma. 

The Oklahoma Marriage Initiative is accepting registration for their "Heart and Souls" 7th Annual Couples Event coming up March 14th and their "Forever, For Real" workshop March 28th in Oklahoma City. Project Relate partners with DHS to offer these workshops to help married, dating and engaged couples improve communication and relationship skills to build healthy and stable families. Project Relate offers a wide range of workshops for couples, individuals, families and parents to explore how to repair and strengthen all forms of relationships. To date, more than 360,000 Oklahomans have taken part in events to build their interpersonal skills. Workshops are open to anyone, but you must sign up in advance. Visit okmarriage.org or projectrelate.com and take a look at their other thought-provoking and helpful events. You might find one that is perfect for you or as a resource referral for a client. 

That's it for this month. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you next time.