Home |  What You Can Do |  Facts | State Chapters  | Resources |  When An Allegation Is Made |  Our Support Group
State Reference Links

• Become a Representative for Your State

• State News

1. People in Oklahoma...Reps Want Your Stories (04/15/08)

2. Local and National Advocates File Federal Class Action Lawsuit
    Against Oklahoma State Officials to Reform Child Welfare System

• References

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People in Oklahoma...Reps Want Your Stories

Oklahoma House of Representatives

Media Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: State Rep. Richard Morrissette
Capitol: (405) 557-7404

WHO: State Rep. Richard Morrissette ( D-Oklahoma City )
WHAT: Public hearing on the Department of Human Services
WHERE: Room 432A of the Oklahoma Capitol, 2300 North Lincoln Blvd.
WHEN: From 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 23, 2008

THE STORY AT A GLANCE: State Rep. Richard Morrissette ( D-Oklahoma City ) will conduct the second of a series of public hearings at the Capitol on the Department of Human Services. The April 23 meeting will include testimony from individuals who have been affected by DHS' actions or failure to act.

Members of the public are both invited and urged to attend, especially those who wish to discuss their interaction with DHS.

DHS has been mired in controversy due to the apparently preventable deaths of children in the agency's custody. DHS' record has led to the filing of a class action law suit by an out-of-state child welfare advocacy group.

Morrissette said the hearing will focus on identifying solutions to the problems discussed by current and former clients of DHS.

Morrissette introduced House Bill 2890 this session, which would have divided DHS into three separate entities. The measure did not receive a hearing.

Earlier this year, New York-based child advocacy organization Children's Rights sued the Department of Human Services on behalf of nine children who were allegedly physically and psychologically damaged by Oklahoma 's foster care system. The lawsuit alleges that abused children are often re-traumatized while in state custody because of numerous flaws in DHS
oversight and management of the foster care system.

Note: Speaker of the House contact information to express your opinion and or grant a Formal House Hearing. ....... Honorable Chris Benge, 2300 N. Linclon Blvd. Room 401, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 73105-4885. 405-521-2711 ask for the Speakers's office or email, chrisbenge@okhouse.gov
 

Back to Top

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Local and National Advocates File Federal Class Action Lawsuit Against
Oklahoma State Officials to Reform Child Welfare System

Complaint details ongoing failure to protect children in state custody from severe abuse and neglect

TULSA, OK Outlining a decade-long slide into disrepair and across-the-board failure to protect children in state custody from often extreme abuse and neglect, the national child advocacy group Children’s Rights has joined four Oklahoma law firms and the international firm Kaye Scholer in filing a federal class action today seeking top-to-bottom reform of Oklahoma’s child welfare system on behalf of the more than 10,000 children placed in its care.

The lawsuit, known as D.G. v. Henry, charges Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS) with violating the constitutional rights of children by routinely placing them in unsafe, unsupervised, and unstable situations in which many suffer further abuse—and some die—due to the department’s longstanding failure to correct widespread problems that prevent it from providing adequate care and protection. (Read More)

Link to Class Action Suit

Back to Top