State Question 765: Revamping DHS model would benefit Oklahomans

To have so much go so wrong for so long can't be ascribed solely to bad luck. It's an indication of systemic failure.

To turn things around, lawmakers who spent months studying DHS ultimately decided that administrative overhaul was necessary. The resulting State Question 765, which got strong bipartisan support, would amend the Oklahoma Constitution to eliminate the Oklahoma Commission of Human Services that runs the agency. It would instead place administrative control solely in the hands of the agency director, who would be a gubernatorial appointee requiring Senate confirmation.

This is dramatic change at Oklahoma's largest agency, which employs roughly 7,000 people and deals with everything from food stamps to child abuse to elder care. Nonetheless, we believe the potential for agency improvement is greater if SQ 765 is adopted than if the current governance structure is maintained.

We therefore urge Oklahomans to vote “yes” for SQ 765.

Currently, the DHS director is hired by a nine-member commission whose members are gubernatorial appointees serving staggered nine-year terms. As a result, a governor must typically be re-elected to a second term before naming enough appointees to cause change at DHS. That governance structure was developed in the 1930s to shield DHS from political influence. It worked too well: Today, the agency is often resistant to change even when the public screams for it.

By making the director a political appointee, SQ 765 will increase the public's ability to influence the agency. The director, or at least the governor who appoints the director, will be far more responsive to public outcry, increasing accountability.

Should voters approve SQ 765, legislation already signed into law will also go into effect creating four citizen advisory panels. The five-member panels, appointed by the governor and Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, will delve into four separate areas — children and family issues, developmental issues, aging issues and agency administration. Those groups will provide in-depth subject-area oversight that seldom occurs under the current Oklahoma Commission of Human Services.