TULSA — During her first 11 months of life, a Tulsa County girl in DHS care allegedly suffered a fractured skull, seizures and severe dehydration while being bounced around 17 foster homes, emergency shelters and a group home.
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Calling the treatment of this infant and other Oklahoma children in state care a "disgrace,” a national child advocacy group Wednesday filed a federal lawsuit in Tulsa.
The civil rights lawsuit requests that a federal judge step in and order reforms to Oklahoma's child welfare system.
"Oklahoma has long maintained one of the most dangerous and badly mismanaged child welfare systems in the nation, and thousands of children have suffered under nightmarish conditions for years as a result,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, executive director of Children's Rights.
"It is disgraceful that we have to seek a federal court order to force the state to begin fixing problems that it should have addressed many years ago. But it is clear that this is the only way to protect Oklahoma's abused and neglected children — and that is what this lawsuit is about,” Lowry said.
DHS issued a statement in response to the lawsuit.
"All states are at different places in their respective strengths and challenges and all can be improved,” DHS said. "The department looks forward to showing the strengths of Oklahoma's system and improving it where appropriate.”
Children's Rights is a New York-based child advocacy organization.
Four Oklahoma law firms and one international firm joined Children's Rights Wednesday in filing the lawsuit on behalf of nine children who allegedly have been physically and psychologically damaged by Oklahoma's foster care system.
Gov. Brad Henry and Oklahoma Department of Human Services officials are named as defendants.
Children's Rights attorneys are asking a judge to declare the lawsuit a class action so they can represent more than 10,000 children in DHS custody in seeking court-ordered reforms for their benefit.
Children's Rights has successfully used class-action lawsuits in the past to force changes in child-welfare systems in about a dozen other states.
DHS indicated in its statement that it would oppose federal intervention and the granting of class-action status.
"Duplicating the efforts of state courts with federal court intervention seems unnecessary,” DHS said. "The department hopes the federal court will realize that every case involving a child in the custody of the state of Oklahoma is unique and is judicially supervised by a state judge.”
Children's Rights, however, contends the failure of DHS to protect children in its care has been well-documented for more than 10 years and the agency has neglected to fix the problems.
In two of the last five years, Oklahoma had the worst rate in the nation of children being abused while in foster care, the lawsuit states.
"This includes physical abuse, sexual abuse or extreme neglect inflicted on foster children by foster parents or staff at shelters or other facilities,” the lawsuit said.
Oklahoma also has a bad record of splitting up siblings in foster homes and psychologically damaging children by bouncing them around from one foster home or shelter to another, the lawsuit states.
"Recent state data shows that 34 percent of foster children in Oklahoma had experienced four or more placements and 17 percent — approximately 1,700 children — had experienced six or more placements while in DHS custody,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit blames excessive caseloads and the rapid turnover of child welfare workers for part of the agency's problems.
National standards limit caseloads to 12 to 15 children per caseworker, but DHS "routinely assigns its employees more than 50 children each, and some carry caseloads of more than 100 children,” the lawsuit said.
While DHS policy calls for caseworkers to visit children in foster homes at least once a month, they "routinely fail to visit children in foster placements for as long as six months at a time,” the lawsuit states.
Children are jammed into overcrowded shelters because there is a shortage of foster homes, the lawsuit contends.
One reason there are so few foster parents is because they are underpaid, the lawsuit said.
An Oklahoma foster parent is paid less than $12 a day. That needs to be increased by more than 50 percent to cover the real costs of raising a child, the lawsuit said.
Because of the foster home shortage, "DHS utilizes foster homes that jeopardize the safety of children, including homes with adults who have criminal convictions, homes that are dirty, overcrowded or lack adequate food, and homes in which supervision is dangerously lacking,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit cited horrific cases in which children have been killed or severely injured while in state custody to bolster its argument that court intervention is necessary.
One case involved the death of a 3-year-old boy and an alleged cover-up by DHS.
In March 2007, 3-year-old Blake Ragsdale died in DHS custody after the agency unlawfully placed him back with his biological mother without a required court order approving the move, the lawsuit said.
Blake was born addicted to methamphetamine and had cerebral palsy and a rare metabolic problem that was fatal if not treated. DHS placed him back with the biological mother even though she had not completed her treatment plan, was unemployed, had no home phone or car and was not equipped to deal with his special needs, according to the lawsuit.
When he died, DHS failed in its duty to report the death to the Child Death Review Board or judge in the case, the lawsuit states.
"DHS then tried to hide its mistakes by removing vital information from the final DHS report to the district attorney on Blake's death,” the lawsuit said. "Although contained in a draft report, the final version of the report omitted all text stating that there had been no court-approved trial home reunification. In addition, no one at DHS has been held accountable for Blake's death. The DHS caseworker in charge of Blake's case now works for DHS in another county.”
In its response, DHS contends it is not getting credit for good things it has done.
The agency says its shortage of foster parents is partially due to its success in getting foster children adopted.
"Oklahoma is consistently adopting record numbers of children out of foster care. Last year, a record 1,579 children were authorized for adoption,” the agency said. "Many foster children are adopted by their foster parents. This requires the recruitment and training of new foster families.”
DHS also emphasized its success in getting children out of foster care quickly.
The average length of stay for children in Oklahoma foster care was 21.2 months in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, DHS said. That is seven months less than the national average of 28.8 months.
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I say, thank the Good Lord for people like Heidi. I have been employed by DHS twice. I care about people. I care enough about people; I destroyed my career standing up to corrupt administrators. I can do more from the inside than from the outside. The current trend is to promote people willing to sell their souls. They are quick to leave out the human part of human services. The official theme song should be the Pink Floyd song, Welcome my son, to the Machine. The real issue is more about upper level administrators maintaining a power base than helping people in need (agency mission). Unless you experience it, I cannot convey the extent of their lust for power & control. The current general trend in public administration is to bring individuals from the business world to make the public sector function more like the “for profit” sector. The problem here is that a business has the objective to maximize profits and minimize losses. In the business world, executives who routinely lose eighty million dollars per year are fired or their business fails. People do not receive the benefits & services without motivated qualified people in the front lines. People who run this organization know that time is on their side. The people of Oklahoma will not focus their collective attention long enough to fix a problem as large as the problems facing DHS. When personalities take precedence over the people we are here to serve, things must change. Nothing changes unless you, the people of Oklahoma decide politics as usual is not going to be good enough any more. The people who run this place are no less self serving and malicious than the Bolsheviks in the 1920's & 1930's. We need to collectively wake up or find ourselves in a re-education camp.
Heidi, the policies are in place by state and federal law. The policies are not observed or implemented to protect the children. I am so tired of hearing the same excuse "we are so overwhelmed and underpaid". Yes there are good caseworkers but even they have to step outside of policy to get anything done for the children. My questions is why do the well intentioned caseworkers and employees of this system wallor in the mess. If the caseworkers would stand up as a group and insist on the proper tools, time, money, education and supervisory needs to allow for lawful care of these children, then federal intervention would not be needed. The caseworkers and the employees are the watchdog. The apathy displayed is questionable. Truth is, when any caseworker of employee steps outside of policy, that is illegal and the child pays the price by being endangered by the agency. These children are made to pay for their parents mistakes by not recievcing the support of the agency by due process. The foster care program is not getting the support from the agency to provide for the lawful care of these children. Why do all these overworked employees continue to do shoddy work and not say enough is enought. The good people of Oklahoma would have stepped in to help. But no, the employees and caseworker keep this terrible secret in the closet that the workload is endangering the children. How is this different from a family having a substance abuse problem or domestic violence problem hidden in the closet. It is the same thing. OKDHS can not take care of our children and has endangerd them due to not following policy.
DJ, You are sorely mistaken. I am far from blinded. I am not a foster care worker. I am an investigator. I have to fight the system, too. When I pick up kids they want me to split them up, place them hours away from their siblings and family and then move them frequently. I have been in court hundreds of times and have never once heard one foster parent(who actually showed up for court) complain about their workers. Foster parents have never had any trouble getting in contact with me about problems they may be having. I have had complaints about other workers and have, of course, directed them to where they needed to go. I am sorry you have not been satisfied with your worker, but plenty of foster parents have called the governor's office for assistance as well as every other agency that would have an interest in the problem. Have you? Don't let just one foster care worker disillusion you. You are making assumptions about all workers and that just isn't fair to those of us who work 16 hour days to help improve the lives of Oklahoma's children. Because I am an investigator, I know all about those bogus calls to the hotline. I investigate them when I need to be investigating the more serious cases, but we are required by law to take and investigate the referrals. You are not the only one beaten down by the system, the workers are as well. We have people telling us what to do who have never done the job or did the job 20 or 30 years ago. They hardly know what is going on. Many of us know what is best for the kids on our workloads, especially if we have been around awhile. You say "Foster parents are wanting to help these beautiful and worthy children." Apparently not enough. A class action lawsuit is not going to solve the problems we have with the system. We need more workers because our caseloads are huge. We need more money to recruit and keep outstanding workers. We need more people to open their hearts and homes to these kids to love and care for them while they are away from their families. A class action lawsuit will never guarantee an adequate number of foster homes so we don't have to use shelters. I hope you are able find a productive way you can help. Perhaps it will be a way to bridge the gap between the workers and the foster parents.
Heidi, you are in the middle of the forest and blinded by the trees. Before you start your campaign to recruite new foster homes, lets tell it like it is. Any new foster parent needs to realize that the DHS caseworker is someone they would not invite into their home any more that they would a cockroach. Cockroach is the nickname she has given her dhs worker. The dhs worker immediately disallows any eperience the foster parent has at raising a good family. This dhs worker is approx 24 years old, single. recent college grad with no children of their own. During the past 9 months, dhs caseworkers have put our foster family in in home incarceration for 55 for no reason, not allowed the children to have any contact with adults. This is to shut up the foster parents from asking for any help with the deficiences of the dhs worker. The dhs worker takes it upon their great judgement to cancel counseling appts for the children. Children are brought to the home without even proper foster care contracts. Children that have been not authorized by the court are hidden in your home to hide the mistakes of over zealous dhs workers. Foster care depts dont even know where the children are. They become lost in the system. DHS caseworkers deny the foster parents the required education to allow for payment of services. The relationship with the foster parent and the dhs caseworker is an adviserial relationship. The foster parent can not protect the children from the stupidity of the caseworker or the retaliations resulting from standing up to the childs needs. Then there are the allegations from the "hotline". False malicious and frivolous allegations toward the foster parents by angry family. Everything from not taking care of dental needs to rape allegations. Weekly there is a new allegation that puts your family into financial legal debt. And some of those hotline allegations are from your caseworker for retaliation. Foster parents are wanting to help these beautiful and worthy children. We battle this nightmare of a system until we are beaten down by the caseworkers. We make our statements in court of the abuse by dhs in our foster homes, but it goes no where. We love the children and know we can help, but in the end the risk of helping is too great. The grienvance process is a joke. Why would anyone want this nightmare? Cockroaches are not allowed in my home anymore. I can have a voice and help children in hundreds of other ways. This system is broken. This system is harming the children. This system is harming families and foster families.
Charlotte, It costs nothing to adopt a child through DHS. I hear you all complaining, but how many of you are foster parents or foster/adopt parents? Why aren't you part of the solution? I am a child welfare caseworker. We are seriouly understaffed and underpaid. I am in a group that should have 11 people, but we are down to five. I work 16 hour days just to keep up. It is troublesome that education is getting all the money and we get nothing. Regarding foster care placements: many times it is the foster parent calling us to move the children because they act out or cry just a little too much. What do they expect? These kids have been removed from their families, they are not well-adjusted to anything. State law says we can't keep little ones in a shelter so we have to move them to emergency care and then they go to regular foster care, but wait if you find a kinship then you have to move them there. That doesn't take into consideration the State Office asking why you refused a placement because the children would be seperated and then making you seperate them because they have to be placed. It is crazy and if one hasn't been in the midst of it, one could never imagine. Oklahoma does not have enough foster homes, so I challenge each and every one of you moaning and groaning about the problem who think you can pass the background and FBI checks to rush down to your local DHS office on Tuesday and ask for a foster care packet and get the process started. If you think you can do better than what we have to work with.....now is your chance. If not.....shut up.
DHS needs the proper funding in order to hire enough investigators and case workers train them. Anyone can go to the DHS website & read DHS policy. It might help to understand the standards of the agency. Like any job, there are people who are better at it than others. There are also people with better and worse verbal skills to explain what they are doing. If there was a big conspiracy going on, don't you all think someone would have mentioned it by now?
I have heard the name Hendricks over and over. Howard Hendricks at DHS in Oklahoma. Hendricks motor sports on the sponcership of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona 500, and the lady on CNN News talking about the Shooting Spree in Illinois, and the shooter worked for the prison system in Illinois, and Susan Hendricks telling about it on the news. Did'nt GM use to sponcer Dale Earnhardts Dad? Weird?
To James: You have evidently never had to deal with
the DHS. I have an have seen Lies on top of lies from the case workers to Hendricks & the Govenor refusees
to help. I have contacted many People re: our Case
with my G'kids. This criminal activity by DHS is going to have far reaching effects in the future of our innocent Children. Open your eyes!! people this is nothing but Legal Child Stealing. I for one lift my Prayers & Thanks to Randy Ellis & Nolan Clay for thier help in repoting the truth. May God bless you both. On behalf of our Kids. Dee
I am sure being intimidated by the people at DHS is an issue with people, the caseworkers don't want to lose their jobs because it feeds their own families, however, if their was an oversight group that people could go to without the backlash it might help.
I agree that the state of Oklahoma's DHS system needs to be investigated.
I really believe that my grandson would be alive if they were doing their duty. They were call to check on his care in his own homecare, and they do not follow through. I have seen them prosecute people with false reports and the ones they have proof of,on abuse they turn their heads. There as been numberous reports on the care of the children for a number of years and they always turn thier heads.
They call ahead and tell them they are coming so they can know and correct the problems that they have been turned in on, then as soon as they leave the the problem goes back to how it was.
These problems are in homecare not just state facilities.
Many of these cases are intentionally, lost and forgotten or fall through the cracks because people at DHS are knowingly treating these kids unfairly. They want them to be lost in the system so their inept ability won't be found out!!!!
I contacted the State Senators Office and spoke to Tom Walls yesterday and he would not help me. As long as we have politicians that are crooked we will never know what happens to kids cause Scott Smith said people get buried in the wrong cemetary everyday!!! Then, they have people like Chris Ferguson at the Funeral Home Board to do nothing!!!
The whole State of Oklahoma should be overhauled...
Like I said, I think full disclosure should be made about these poor children who are adopted out of DHS because when the judges like Bryan Upp and others think they can do whatever they want with these kids and know that with sealed adoption records they can get away with anything! Buddy Foster of Lawyers for Children should be totally, ashamed of her self! She knows the truth about these abused children... After my daughter died I went to the DHS for answers because my daughter had been living with her father and step mother in a house worth over $100,000.00 but yet my daughter was on welfare. I went to the office in the old Shepard Mall. I think there are abuses of the welfare system and people should be aware of it. Then, after my daughter died I had Vondel Smith Funeral home bury her because My dad was a home-builder and he built Vondel Smith and his mom their home on Western years ago. I trusted them to bury my daughter beside my mother and father in Resthaven. Instead, they buried her in a cemetary in Checotah, Oklahoma. I contacted the Funeral Home Board at 4545 North Lincoln Blvd in Okc and filed a complaint but they dismissed it. I think its the same place the Auditor who is being investigated now works. That whole building is corrupt. Scott Smith from Vondel Smith and Sons funeral home knows he missed up placing my daughter in the wrong cemetary because I have 2 different death certificates-1 with her buried in Resthaven and -1 buried in Greenlawn Cemetary; this is a legal document. I also, heard from my Indian Tribe that they paid the funeral home $2500.00 for my daughters burial after I filled out the paperwork, I would not have paid Scott Smith a dime because he did not place Lacey in the right resting place. I guess thats why all the Native Americans are dying, the tribes have to automatically, pay the funeral homes the going rate which they recently, up the burial prices to $6500.00 and $500 for a head stone!!! Thats why Gene Stipes was hiring ex-Senators to be Ghost Employees for the DHS and gather all the names of births and deaths of Native Americans so he could do his own Ethnic Cleansing. I know he owns 15 Land and Title Companies so he can confiscate Indian Lands from all the people. CMO
James, E, Truth, and Cord are all on the right track. Why should everyone be aghast at what's been taking place with the DHS child welfare system? We are getting exactly what we paid for! The real blame lies with the legislators as they are the ones in charge of the purse strings. Only they can authorize and fund additional FTE's. Children's Rights national standard is 12 to 15 cases per worker. DHS child welfare workers can have 50 to 100 cases. And you wonder why some kids fall thru the cracks? They are understaffed and underpaid. The foster care folks are underpaid as well. Everyone wants a Cadillac, but when you pay for an Edsel, that's just what you get. Direct some of this ire toward the one's REALLY responsible for this travesty! If you truly want something to change, tell your legislators' to stop the stupid state tax cuts and fix this problem. They are the only one's that can do it. Maybe if Brad Henry's wife was a child welfare worker instead of a teacher, this would have happened a few years ago. Maybe this lawsuit will get our elected officials attention. Because they are the one's that have been exposed.....
I believe it was stated the refusal to provide the money for services by the state legislature is a huge problem for all the foster children. Tax cuts make good press & get votes. Now we are seeing the results of underfunding produced by those tax cuts.
My mom turned her niece in to the DHS for abusing her children three years ago. They let them stay with my mom for a few weeks. My mom had to turn them over to the DHS for their safety, because their mom would come to my mom's house and get physical. The DHS would not give my mom any type of P.O. order to proctect them from their mom. The day the DHS picked up the boys they told her she could see them a week later, a week came and went and now it's been three long years. The DHS treats my mom like she hurt the boys. She just now got to see one of the boys who is now 6 years old and he is in mental institute. He is on so many drugs, at times he don't even know his name. She has been trying to adopt them and has spent every penny on a attorney. She is not a rich person all she want's to do is love and take care of those boys. I wish someone would look into some of the hospital's they keep these kid's in, it is really sad. the DHS treats these kid's like numbers with out souls. My little cousin cries all the time and no one their to wipe his tears or even to tell him they love him. I pray for all those kid's in DHS care, because they are just a sastitics. It cost so much money to adopt a child in DHS custidy. I have lost all RESPECT for the DHS after what I have seen those boys go through. Those kid's in DHS care have been through enough and they make matters worse. Please start with adopting them out to good families without the cost of losing everything you ever worked for. Remember it's about the children and whats best for them. Not to be in a mental institute when your only 6 years old. I guess that is a easy way to get some kid's out of their busy work load. The DHS lies and docks up stories to make their self look good. They tell you one thing and lie to your face the next time. Do not believe the DHS for any reason.
We've been "Cutting the fat out of State Government" so long that it escaped our notice when we started cutting the muscle, the sinew, and sometimes even the bone. We have the lowest paid Child Welfare folks anywhere, you get what you pay for. We haven't raised Foster Care reimbursement in fifteen years, twenty five if you put the word "significant" into that raise. We only pay $300.00 a YEAR to clothe a foster child, shoes, coats and all. We gutted Child Welfare Prevention and diversion programs to save a little money. We pay our shelters and group homes a pitiful amount of money. But we've got plenty of money to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Oklahomans, yes we do. Our legislature is criminally irresponsibile, lies and panders at every turn, but they won't be the ones blamed for starving foster care into its' shameful state. No DHS will get the blame. I don't like DHS either, but it's the folks down the way at the State Capitol who ought to be on trial. Us too. Citizens I mean. We're the ones who lap up all that "Something for Nothing" bull they feed us, then re-elect them when they steal what we have built and hand it to their campaigne contributors. We should all be ashamed.
It's just a shame that we the people, our governor, and our legislators know the suffering caused to little children by the corrupt DHS and do nothing.
I have also had a bad expeience with DHS. They ignored the judge's orders and refused to return my nephew to his mother when it was proved in court that the complaint was a false and mistaken charge by a well meaning school teacher. It was a sad state of affairs. We all know of the problems. Most of us are powerless to get the problem fixed. I am sure that we all want reform. I just hope that this group of attorneys are trying to force improvement and not just going after a big 'jackpot justice class action settlement.' If they are really looking for change and improvement, how about providing representation free of charge to the afflicted parties. Force the State, DHS, Governor and all responsible to toe the line, but don't try to slaughter the cash cow. Maybe the judges at the conclusion of the trial will thank the attorney's for their service to the community and put the DHS, and all others responsible on notice to reform and conform or be confined.
Dear E, I never took a demotion at DHS. You must have meant to address your post to M/Truth, whose post is just below mine. M/Truth does answer your question below. And I can verify from my knowledge of DHS that yes, DHS employees have been threatened with termination should they ever talk to the media about DHS business. If you know a caseworker, any DHS caseworker, current or former, and not just child welfare, ask them if this is true. I imagine DHS would attempt to fire someone as well for turning in information to law enforcement. Caseworkers have done so, but anonymously. If they get fired, they can't even make a tiny difference in someone's life. Plus whistleblower statutes mean nothing when you can't feed & shelter your family. That is why it will take subpoenas from the legislature to protect the caseworker from retribution at the hands of DHS managers.
Concerned, Central Oklahoma - Feb 14, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Why are children placed in foster care moved from home to home? My daughter had kinship care of her husbands nieces. They had been sexually abused at age 5 and 7. The case worker left her 2 year old child in a running car in the drive way. My daughter and her husband were treated like slime. They tried to give the girls a normal home with all advantages. When they came to them they made F's & D's. My daughter enrolled them in a private school and the grades went to A' & B'. DHS gave vouchers for cloths. However, they had not paid the bills at Walmart or Dillards so my daughter ended up paying $1000 for cloths the first day she had them. Same with dental she paid $7000 out of her pocket for urgent care they needed. They had a room of their own, a swimming pool and all of the attention they could handle. They were returned to their parents. Since then I have reported them 3 times and the neighbors 2 times. DHS comes, takes the girls and returns them. The live in filth, don't go to school, do not bathe and know so much about sexual things that it is shocking. They are not 12 and 14 the older one wants a baby and the younger one wants to kill someone. Good going DHS. Just keep giving the children back and see what they make of their lives. Father has never worked a day in his life and doesn't see the need. Mean while one of the ladies I work with wants a child so bad she can taste it and takes foster infants into her home. Everytime she hopes this will be the child they are allowed to adopt and every time they are returned to worthless parents.
Thoughtful, Oklahoma City - Feb 14, 2008 at 2:31 pm
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the DHS. I have an have seen Lies on top of lies from the case workers to Hendricks & the Govenor refusees
to help. I have contacted many People re: our Case
with my G'kids. This criminal activity by DHS is going to have far reaching effects in the future of our innocent Children. Open your eyes!! people this is nothing but Legal Child Stealing. I for one lift my Prayers & Thanks to Randy Ellis & Nolan Clay for thier help in repoting the truth. May God bless you both. On behalf of our Kids. Dee
I really believe that my grandson would be alive if they were doing their duty. They were call to check on his care in his own homecare, and they do not follow through. I have seen them prosecute people with false reports and the ones they have proof of,on abuse they turn their heads. There as been numberous reports on the care of the children for a number of years and they always turn thier heads.
They call ahead and tell them they are coming so they can know and correct the problems that they have been turned in on, then as soon as they leave the the problem goes back to how it was.
These problems are in homecare not just state facilities.
The whole State of Oklahoma should be overhauled...