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David Stanley Ford

Report rips DHS
National panel faults Oklahoma County system
National panel faults Oklahoma County system

By Nolan Clay and Randy Ellis    Comments Comment on this article24
Published: April 27, 2008

© Copyright 2008, The Oklahoman

Too many abused and neglected children are taken into DHS custody in Oklahoma County and they are kept too long, according to a secret report obtained by The Oklahoman.

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"Once a child enters care, the child is there for an unreasonable amount of time — often several years,” the American Bar Association wrote.

The Department of Human Services paid $26,000 for the study by a team of attorneys from the association's Center on Children and The Law. The 25-page report rips DHS, saying caseworkers are not trusted by judges or assistant district attorneys.

"DHS experiences ongoing difficulties with new and inexperienced workers, high caseworker turnover, and more caseworker time committed to preparing for court hearings instead of working with families,” the report found. "All feed the belief that DHS is incompetent and unreliable.”

The study found the system fails deprived children at many levels. Juvenile courtrooms in Oklahoma County are overcrowded and unsafe. Confidentiality laws are violated. Assistant public defenders carried caseloads of more than 1,000 children at a time, too many to fulfill their ethical duty to provide quality representation.

At fault is a broken court system, problems at DHS and an inadequate juvenile justice center, according to the report.

"The Oklahoma County child welfare system is composed of caring competent professionals, however it is also a system that is spread dangerously thin,” the report concluded.

DHS Director Howard Hendrick and juvenile court judges agreed Oklahoma County has significant problems. They said improvements are being made.

While the length of stays in state custody can probably be trimmed for some children, the average length of stay in Oklahoma County is still six months below the national average — 22 months as compared to 28 months, said Judge Roger Stuart.

"We're doing some things,” Hendrick said. "We're trying to, all together, solve the problem.”

A national child advocacy group raised some of the same concerns in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed against DHS in February in Tulsa.

The American Bar Association is a widely known professional association of the nation's attorneys. It issued a draft report May 18 to DHS but never issued a final report.

What were the key criticisms?
The Oklahoman obtained a copy of the bar association's draft report after DHS officials refused to make it public.

The key criticisms:

•High turnover among DHS workers means cases are passed from worker to worker to worker with every transfer, reducing "a family's opportunities for success.” The average tenure of Oklahoma County caseworkers is 18 months.

•The juvenile center is so overcrowded that basic legal rights of children and parents are regularly violated. Hearings are in courtrooms crowded with people involved in other cases because there is no safe and convenient place for families to wait. By law, hearings are supposed to be confidential. "While judges are doing the best they can to control their courtrooms, they are neither safe, nor secure as presently operating,” the report said.

•The first hearings on abuse or neglect accusations are too rushed, even chaotic. DHS workers often are unprepared. The result is children are kept from homes when returning them to their parents and providing supportive services might be better.

•Assistant public defenders have unacceptably large caseloads, with each attorney responsible for between 1,000 and 1,250 children. Maximum caseload should be 100 children. Children are not adequately represented. Assistant district attorneys and outside attorneys hired to represent indigent parents are similarly overworked.

•Judges have to waste time on hearings just to make sure DHS workers followed basic court orders. "When DHS fails to follow through with court expectations, the court feels obligated to schedule another hearing. This contributes to an unproductive cycle of hearings where very little is accomplished.”

‘We're at a critical point'
Among the changes already made are new efforts by DHS to keep children with families.

Public Defender Bob Ravitz is working to double the number of his assistants representing deprived children. He hopes to have six by July 1. He rejects the criticism children are not adequately represented.

"Under their recommendation I would need something like 40 some odd lawyers out there which is ... about equal to my whole staff,” Ravitz said. "There's a big distinction between opening a case when you have to do X,Y,Z ... and a case that is being reviewed for 14 years.”

Also, judges have spread out the scheduling of court cases throughout the day so DHS workers spend less time in court waiting and more time helping families.

One problem without an immediate solution is the overcrowded juvenile center.

Hendrick said, "We're operating in a facility that was built to handle a much smaller prevalence of problems than we have today. ... This may take three to five to seven years to really solve some of the things that need to happen on court space and things like that.”

District Attorney David Prater said space is so tight at the juvenile center he can't even put any more than four assistants there to handle deprived cases. "We don't even have the space to store all the files,” he said.

"We've had overcrowding in our juvenile justice building for years,” the district attorney said. "We're at a critical point now and it doesn't seem that any of the parties are doing too well in getting us to a point where we can see any kind of relief in the near future.”

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David Stanley Ford





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If a child is taken from a parent or parents because of PROVEN child abuse, that child should be placed with other family members to reduce the trauma to the child. The parent(s) should then deligently do whatever is asked of them by the courts to overcome the abusive problem (people can change). The children should be returned to the home ASAP. Why does DHS all over this country drag their feet in reuniting children with their parents? Any time there is money involved corruption will exist, and the greedy ones will not care about the children,only about the bottom line, year-end bonus, adoption quotas, etc. We must go back to the original problem...the breakup of the family; divorce is too easy, stressful situations are created, kids are used as pawns in their parents' games, false allegations of abuse are made, or true allegations of an abuse problem is denied by the abuser..how can we possibly have a "system" that works for our children when it's so screwed up from the beginning? I agree that CPS needs a major shake-down. I would even bet it safe to say that clealy 20% of all cases wouldn't even exist if CPS didn't go 'hunting' for children to take..it happens!
R, Oklahoma City - May 12, 2008 at 2:38 pm
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I think Hendricks and some of the Judges that are appointed to oversee the abused children of abusive parents are preying on these poor children and using the vulnerability of the situation to profit from their plights.
Candace, Lakeland - Apr 30, 2008 at 5:39 am
I think the heart of the problem lies with the tendency for termed out politicians that call in favors to get jobs for which they are not qualified, who then surround themselves with like-minded people. It is no secret that within our home-grown government, 'qualified' people do not get promoted, and only those that have political connections rise to the top. In essence, city, county, and state government need to be gutted and then restaffed by a panel of people knowledgeable of the real issues, though this would never happen in a state rife with nepotism and incestual relationships. But who cares? We're gunna get an NBA team (maybe).
Kevin, Oklahoma City - Apr 28, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Wow! There have been some really great comments made on here. I think the people of Oklahoma are FED UP with their inadequate, under-achieving, irresponsible, chaotic system otherwise known as DHS! Why can't Mr. Hendrick start allocating more of their budget to child welfare? Can't he see that this is a HUGE part of the problem?
HOWARD, stop making excuse and DO SOMETHING! All we hear are "changes are being made". What changes? What are doing to fix the problem? Why don't you try being a little more specific because YOUR WORDS MEAN NOTHING to me! PLEASE MR. HENDRICK SAVE US ALL FROM THIS GIANT MIGRANE AND RESIGN!!!
Lori, Oklahoma City - Apr 28, 2008 at 11:38 am
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Thank You Michael. Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NCP-OK-OklahomaCounty/
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 11:25 pm
The OKDHS policies that allow two OKDHS employees to overturn the Administrative Law Judge's (aka Administrative Hearing Officer) decision favorable to the client are in OKDHS Policy OAC 340: Chapter 2. Administrative Components, Subchapter 5. Fair Hearings. In OKDHS Policy 340:2-5-103 Hearing decision (for Adoption and Foster Care) and OKDHS Policy 340:2-5-76 Hearing decision (for Assistance Programs), both policies state in "(c) Making the decision" that when the judge concludes that DHS acted incorrectly, the judge refers the case to the other two DHS employees on the Appeals Committee, and if those two DHS employees disagree with the judge and vote against the client, then the client loses, as the policy states in (c)(3)(D) Following the vote by the Appeals Unit supervisor, the file is returned to the AHO to issue a decision in accord with the majority vote of the Appeals Committee. Those other two DHS employees, who disagree with the judge's decision for the client, were not even at the hearing held by the judge.
Michael, Yukon - Apr 27, 2008 at 9:40 pm
The OKDHS policies that allow two OKDHS employees to overturn the Administrative Law Judge's (aka Administrative Hearing Officer) decision favorable to the client are in OKDHS Policy OAC 340: Chapter 2. Administrative Components, Subchapter 5. Fair Hearings. In OKDHS Policy 340:2-5-103 Hearing decision (for Adoption and Foster Care) and OKDHS Policy 340:2-5-76 Hearing decision (for Assistance Programs), both policies state in "(c) Making the decision" that when the judge concludes that DHS acted incorrectly, the judge refers the case to the other two DHS employees on the Appeals Committee, and if those two DHS employees disagree with the judge and vote against the client, then the client loses, as the policy states in (c)(3)(D) Following the vote by the Appeals Unit supervisor, the file is returned to the AHO to issue a decision in accord with the majority vote of the Appeals Committee. Those other two DHS employees, who disagree with the judge's decision for the client, were not even at the hearing held by the judge.
Michael, Yukon - Apr 27, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Come on DHS...get on here and confront the people that are paying your salaries! I dare you to face your public and answer some questions.
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 5:58 pm
When a child is abused, DHS immediately punishes the child by taking the child away to a complete stranger. In the eyes of a child, they are the ones who have done something wrong. If they would put them with a relative or someone who they know it would be easier for the child to understand what is going on...
Candace, Lakeland - Apr 27, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Michael...Sounds like you and your family can teach the rest of us a few things by sharing your experiences. Look at Children Need Both Parents at http://cnbpinc.ning.com/. I would also be interested in hearing your story... jacodenn5201@att.net.
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 1:46 pm
if you look in the policies it only takes 2 DHS workers to over turn a ruling on a hearing or grievance my family and I know very well, when it come to these things. The DHS doesn't like when people go against them, they retaliate even if it is against policy. See the DHS does does not like when you file a request for hearing or a grievance. They will do anything to squelch it, deny it was filed or just use the lonely little policy that allows 2 DHS workers to overturn a hearing request that was in the favor of the client and against the DHS. There are so many things that people go thru daily and now that my family and I are done with them we are so relieved because we don't have to have the treat of retaliation over our heads because we choose to fight for the child.
Michael, Yukon - Apr 27, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Want to see just how stupid DHS can be... check out the video entitled, "Typical Human Services Response" at http://cnbpinc.ning.com/profile/Dennis
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Michael, Yukon...Your statement that DHS can overturn a Judge's Order caught my attention. Can you provide a reference to this? Thanks!
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 1:15 pm
DHS already knew what their problems were. It seems to me that they laid out $26,000 to an outside group to do the work the DHS Inspector General ought to have done. And it alsso appears to me that Hendrick commissioned this "study" to position his agency for the next round of budget request. Mr. Hendrick, open your eyes and do what needs to be done...get rid of the deadwieghts, the non-performers, the incompetents, the slackers, the supervisors that can't push themselves away from their desk, and for God's sake get rid of that poor excuse for a DHS Spokesperson.
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 12:51 pm
If the DHS were in the privat sector, the board of directors would terminate Mr. Hendrick or ask Mr. Hendrick for his resignation. This man continues to draw a paycheck and does not feel any accountability for his failure to run this agency. The top heavy mangagement is not held accountable for their cronyism that has continued to promote their freinds. Howard , you should be ashame to continue as our director.
smark, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 10:46 am
Well I have to say this is only the tip of the ice burg, it they will allow the addition of former children in custody and or families it will get even uglier. From DHS allowing a child with out paternity test to go with men who no one is sure the father is, to allow parents who keep failing there drug test over and over dragging out a process to move to adoption to give children a chance or to retaliation against kinship foster care providers and regular foster care providers for fighting to protect the children they are caring for because they point out failures on all sides only to be threatened by DHS. See this system has systemic problems that is not just the fault of the case worker but all the way to the top. I bet most people that read these articles didn't know that if you file a grievance and are found to win that claim 2 DHS workers can over turn a judge because they don't like the decision. Or that good families get black balled because they saw failures at all levels. There is a bigger story here then most people want to admit. We need the enter DHS system scrapped and built anew because it will never be fixed if Hendrix and others are still in charge of this failed system they know the problems but don't see the need to fix it. Just to think they are suppose protect the children.
Michael, Yukon - Apr 27, 2008 at 10:42 am
Why is it that whenever CPS gets their foot in the door of a troubled family, the risk of violence and/or death in that family goes up? STOP CPS AND SAVE YOUR FAMILY!
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 8:00 am
Increased authority demands increased accountability, but the vast majority of the administrative staff at DHS are unclassified or “at-will” employees. When the citizens of Oklahoma endure the financial loss and dangerous neglect and abuse stemming from incompetent and inept management, those in management should share in that loss, as they are responsible for their employees and their policies. After all, if the objective is to make state government function more like private enterprise, wouldn’t that be a start in that direction?

To the contrary; this agency rewards its managers for establishing self-serving priorities and skewed personnel policies that prohibit competent and trained workers from genuine advancement. These managers are enforcing a system that is a model for how not to obtain, train, and retain competent employees, and a lesson in perpetuating a weak, bloated, and thoroughly inept scheme of management that seeks only to serve itself with little or no oversight or accountability.

A great majority of this agency’s managers establish and enforce standards of training and performance that ensure mediocrity is the rule and not the exception. Front-line workers are forbidden or discouraged to display initiative and creativity, and soon realize after they receive their first few paychecks they have more and better and more fulfilling opportunities elsewhere.

What is the going price tag for effective state government these days? Excessive turnover from incompetent & inept management are making state government very, very expensive indeed.
M, Truth - Apr 27, 2008 at 5:21 am
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What was it that a very wise man once said about the definition of insanity; oh yeah, doing the same thing over & over & over while continuing to expect a different result. Until we, as an electorate decide enough is enough, we will continue to have these problems. I just wonder how many more kids have to die before we get to that point. This fall, vote against the incumbent. In case you were absent that day in 9th grade civics, the incumbent is the one running for re-election.
M, Truth - Apr 27, 2008 at 5:13 am
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It all comes down to those despicable parasites at 23rd and Lincoln. That may actually be an insult to parasitic organisms. Until we in Oklahoma are fed up enough, until we decide no more; it will continue and get worse. That’s what happens when you demand effective government and refuse to acknowledge the fact that effective government is not free. That’s what happens when there is no leadership, only cronyism. How much worse does the news have to get?
esprit, Durant - Apr 27, 2008 at 4:32 am
Well, Oklahoma is craving national attention, looks like they're getting it, and it goes right along with the rest of the standards in this state, which are ranking at the bottom....how typical..
paul, yukon - Apr 27, 2008 at 3:46 am
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This is JUST the tip of the iceberg folks. If the whole truth ever came out, the good citizens of Oklahoma would be demanding that the Governor shut down DHS.
Dennis, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 12:31 am
They talk about over crowding at the Juvenile Justice Center, are they talking about the Detention Center or the DHS Emergency Shelter, there is a difference. If they are talking about the DHS Shelter then yes there is a need for expansion, otherwise the office of OJA needs to take care of the Juvenile Detention center's problems.
Thomas, Oklahoma City - Apr 27, 2008 at 12:29 am

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