OKDHS 75 YEARS AND BEYOND INTRODUCTION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE Narrator: It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. It changed us. It shaped us. It shaped the way we looked at ourselves... and at our neighbors. It was a precursor to even darker days that lay ahead. The grit that billowed across our skies swept across a very un-fruited plain. It was as if the world had ended. But the grit that filled farm houses soon filled us. We would survive. We would persevere. We would overcome. And we would learn to do it together. No Audio: “The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally on the welfare of all of us.” - President Theodore Roosevelt, New York State Fair, 1903. (MUSIC PLAYS) The dust bowl of the 1930's was man-made and catastrophic. Following the First World War, the European appetite for American grain was massive. In order to meet the demand, American agriculture began the hyper-industrialization of food production. Millions of acres across the Great Plains, including parts of Oklahoma, were plowed until the soil gave out. And then the rain stopped. With no topsoil and no water, monster dust storms churned across the landscape. For many people in this part of the country, everything they owned or cared about seemingly vanished in a terrible wind. Thousands of Oklahomans in rural communities could no longer make a living or provide for their families. With the nation's economy shattered by the stock market collapse in 1929, jobs disappeared and banks foreclosed on homes and farms. Our famous "Okies" took to the road, turning Route 66 into a ribbon of highway, leading to a promised land that was anywhere but here. Entire families became American vagabonds stopping for rest where they could and praying that relief was waiting down a thin, lonesome black-topped roadway. For the people left behind - the ones who couldn't afford to get out - there was the daily struggle to eke out some kind of living. That was nearly impossible. An alarming number of people needed help just to eat. In an effort to provide some relief, the country's political leaders embarked on an unprecedented experiment in the common welfare. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is rooted in that experiment. The 1930s were tragic, desperate days. There is no escaping that fact. But the agency's work was a commitment to move forward, to press on, to make tomorrow better than today. We did that by helping those who were falling through the cracks. No Audio: Katherine “Kate” Bernard and the caption “1907”. An early advocate for Oklahoma's most vulnerable citizens was Catherine "Kate" Barnard. She was the first woman elected to state office even though she - and every other American woman - would not have the right to vote for another 12 years. Barnard served as the state's first Commissioner of Charities and Corrections, the only statewide office a woman was allowed to hold. She played a key role in securing state support for poor widows, enacting compulsory education laws, reforming state prisons, and ending child labor. She was also one of the very few officials to publicly condemn the abuse of Native American children. The grinding poverty Barnard witnessed in the first decade of the 20th Century got worse during the Great Depression. The Oklahoma legislature provided organized, official help to needy Oklahomans by creating the Department of Public Welfare. Offices in all 77 counties opened on September 1, 1936. This marked the first time that one agency uniformly distributed assistance to people in need throughout the state. Nationally, President Franklin Roosevelt responded to the crisis by signing the Social Security Act. The Oklahoma Department of Public Welfare would execute key provisions of the act including aid to the elderly, services for the disabled, and the protection of children. By the end of 1936, more than 10,000 Oklahomans were receiving assistance checks each month. The average amount was just five dollars. In those early days, the checks were stuffed into envelopes by hand every month. The Second World War brought increased demand on industry and the nation began to dig itself out from the Great Depression. Millions of Americans were drafted into military service while others flocked to the cities, finding jobs in support of the nation's wartime industrial boom. But Oklahoma still suffered from the one-two punch of the Dust Bowl and the Depression. Even with the increase in jobs because of the war effort, many people in the state remained mired in poverty. By the end of World War II, Oklahoma sadly led the nation in the number of adults over age 65 and children under age 18 who were receiving government assistance. So while the nation was poised on the edge of an unprecedented economic boom in the 1950s, the need for assistance in Oklahoma seemed to be unending. EXPANDING NEED (MUSIC PLAYS) Narrator: Increased need for services brought increased pressure on the state to deliver those services. The department would soon have an iron-jawed director who would take on the challenge - and change the way all states would eventually provide welfare assistance. Lloyd Rader arrived at the agency in 1951 as the new Director of the Department of Public Welfare. He was a businessman from Caddo County and a former auditor for the Oklahoma Tax Commission. His arrival signaled the era of real expansion for the agency. Rader's success was due to his innate ability to secure matching federal dollars to supplement state appropriations. That allowed more people to receive benefits without the total financial burden falling to the state. It is still the standard by which states partner with the federal government to fund social welfare programs. Rader quickly went to work. Assistance checks for those who were then called "disabled" began the year Rader arrived; aid to orphans and delinquent children began in 1953; vocational rehabilitation in 1955; and emergency relief, the adoption of children, and commodity distribution all started in 1957. Box after box of non-perishable food was stacked in agency warehouses. Workers faced long hours loading the food onto trucks for distribution to needy Oklahomans statewide. This massive growth soon made the agency the state's largest. Rader brought innovation and a ferocious appetite for success to all aspects of public welfare. Before his arrival, assistance checks were tied to fluctuations in the economy. Rader changed that. He had the check amounts calculated based upon a client's need. The determining factors would now be what was, "compatible with common health and decency." Food, clothing, shelter and utilities were among the components that defined a recipient's need. The measure is still in use today. Rader next turned his attention to Oklahoma's youth and the challenges many of them faced. Girls and boys who were then defined as "delinquent," as well as those who were orphaned, were housed in dormitories at several locations in the state. By today's standards the schools looked bleak. But the young residents were given a basic education and taught a trade such as welding or trained as a dental assistant. It was often a lonely experience, but the children were fed, clothed and sheltered - and safer than many had been before. Even in these less-than-perfect circumstances, teenagers looked forward to fellowship with each other and doing things other teens might enjoy, such as looking through a stack of the latest records. Providing for the basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing is still the backbone of agency efforts today. And the need remains great. Nearly one million Oklahomans are served by some division or component of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Another reason the agency touches so many lives is the department's administration of the Federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, which began in the 1960's. Other responsibilities taken on by the agency at that time included the administration of what were then called "institutions for the mentally retarded." The agency also managed the Library for the Blind. By 1962, the agency had become a lynch-pin in state government. The growth in services meant a growth in staff and a new home was selected - the Sequoyah building, just north of the state Capitol. The agency also changed its name in 1968, becoming the Oklahoma Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services. That name didn't exactly roll off the tongue, and it would be changed again in 1983 when the agency was renamed the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. Regardless of the name changes, the mission has always remained the same: to serve the needs of the people of Oklahoma. SPIRIT OF SERVICE Narrator: The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is comprised of numerous divisions and units that distribute and provide assistance of all kinds to anyone in the state who needs it. The work we do really does focus on matters of life and death. We meet people when they are most vulnerable. We continue to provide assistance and protection for those who are aging and to families who need food, clothing and shelter. We care for people with developmental disabilities, enforce child support payments, and provide basic nutritional needs. We advocate for the welfare of children, support foster care, and provide adoption services. We're much more diverse now than we were in our early days, and much more representative of the people we help. Thousands of dedicated staff at OKDHS serve their fellow citizens every day. And we'll keep doing that because it's what we do. It's in our roots... all the way back to those dusty days when neighbors needed a little help. Help is still needed. We're still here. For 75 years and beyond... (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Woman 1: Because of OKDHS, I can feed my kids. No Audio: Developmental Disabilities Services Woman 2: Because of OKDHS, my child can live more independently. No Audio: SoonerCare Man 1: Because of OKDHS, my daughter has access to medical care. No Audio: Adult Protective Services Woman 3: Because of OKDHS, my parents are protected from abuse and exploitation. No Audio: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Man 2: Because of OKDHS, I got a helping hand when I needed it. No Audio: Adoption Services Teen: Because of OKDHS, I have a family. (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: Writer/Producer/Director - Debra Martin, OKDHS Office of Communications; Managing Producer - Sheree Powell, OKDHS Office of Communications; Narration - Gerry Bonds; Editor - Ray Leyva; Production Facilities - University of Oklahoma Video Media Services. Images provided courtesy of: OKDHS Records Management, Oklahoma Historical Society, Library of Congress, National Archives, and WGBH-TV. Special Thanks to Mary Gail Foster, OKDHS Records Management Administrator. Thank You to the thousands of OKDHS staff past, present and future who serve the people of Oklahoma. Copyright 2012, Oklahoma Department of Human Services