Foster parents say agency doesn't follow own rules
Foster parents say DHS doesn't follow own rules
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By Randy Ellis
Published: February 22, 2008
About 40 child advocates rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday to demand reforms to Oklahoma's child welfare system.
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Problems vary by county
Lana Freeman, executive vice president of the Foster Care Association of Oklahoma, a parent group, said whether monthly in-home visits are done seems to vary a great deal from county to county and caseworker to caseworker.
Freeman said it's not a problem in McClain County, where she is, but she has heard a lot of complaints from Oklahoma County and other counties where caseworkers have extremely high case loads.
"There is a desperate need for more foster parents,” she said.
It's hard to recruit them because the state only pays $365 to $498 a month, depending on the child's age, and that isn't enough to cover the costs of raising a kid, she said.
Foster parents also often complain about a lack of support from DHS — both in dealing with emergency situations and in dealing with common issues, such as finding eligible doctors and dentists, Freeman said.
More die than in war
Another speaker, Kathie Briggs, said there are more U.S. children killed by child abuse and neglect each year than U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.
The U.S. lost 849 soldiers in Iraq in 2004. That same year, 1,490 children died from abuse or neglect, she said. In 2005, there were 846 soldiers killed in Iraq, while 1,460 children died from abuse or neglect.
Briggs said the numbers are dear to her heart since she has a son who fought in Iraq and her 2-year-old granddaughter, Kelsey, died from abuse.
Kelsey became the poster child for what is wrong with Oklahoma's system when she died from child abuse in 2005.
While under supervision of a judge and DHS, Kelsey continued to suffer broken bones and bruises.
Her mother, Raye Dawn Smith, and stepfather, Michael Lee Porter, are in prison.
Public outrage over the death of Kelsey and other children has prompted several changes to state law. More needs to be done, Briggs said.

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