oklahoma
D.G. v. governor Henry
Plaintiffs: 9 foster children, aged 5 months through 16 years old, representing the class of over 11,000 Oklahoma foster children
Read the original complaint here (filed February 13, 2008).
Before a lawsuit was filed against the state in 2008, Oklahoma had claimed to have one of the best child-welfare systems in the country. Following a long and hard-fought legal battle, the state of Oklahoma settled this class-action lawsuit in 2012, agreeing to bring in three national child-welfare experts, designated “Co-Neutrals,” to approve a reform plan and monitor its implementation and to help guide the state’s efforts toward reform.
about the oklahoma foster care system
In 2012, Oklahoma and its Department of Human Services settled a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of children in foster care. The lawsuit alleged that the state routinely places foster care children in unsafe, unstable care, and fails to ensure permanence for them. The result was that Oklahoma had one of the highest rates of maltreatment in foster care in the country.
In the 2012 Compromise and Settlement Agreement (“CSA”), the state agreed to work over a five-year period with court-appointed “Co-Neutrals” to address systemic violations of the constitutional rights of children in its foster care system. Because the state did not meet the terms of the agreement, its duration has been extended indefinitely.
Oklahoma continues to approve and license foster homes/parents, despite their child welfare history.
Oklahoma’s foster care children often remain in homes that have extensive documented records of concern.
Although the number of children in foster care has declined since the state signed the CSA seven years ago, the state has failed consistently to develop the additional number and a range of additional homes that it has promised.
allegations
The state has made progress in some areas, particularly with regard to visitation of children by workers and eliminating shelter use for very young children, but in other ways the state is still failing. Too many children are at imminent risk of harm while under the care of the state, and the state has failed to take adequate steps to remedy this problem. It has failed to develop an adequate array of services for children with the need for therapeutic foster homes, and many children are backed up in the shelter system. Serious concerns remain about the licensing and supervision of Oklahoma’s foster care homes. Despite some progress, Oklahoma has been far from meeting the CSA’s targeted outcomes and two years of sustained progress.
advocacy goals
ABC seeks to enforce compliance with the CSA and ensure that Oklahoma’s children are protected in foster care in accordance with their constitutional rights. ABC will continue its vigorous monitoring of Oklahoma’s progress until the state meets the CSA’s requirements.
progress
The neutral experts responsible for evaluating the performance of the Oklahoma child welfare system have concluded that the state has made sufficient progress to be released from federal court oversight for the majority of the provisions in the Settlement Agreement entered more than 10 years ago. Citing progress with the elimination of most shelter placements, full staffing at professionally acceptable levels, a drastic reduction in maltreatment in care and the development of a strong system to provide therapeutic placements in family homes, many of them with relatives, for children with heightened needs the state has largely achieved compliance with most requirements of the Settlement Agreement in this case. The remaining areas are those that have been affected by the pandemic and will take longer to achieve; those areas will remain under court oversight. But there is no dispute that the children in Oklahoma are far better off today because of this lawsuit and the state’s successful efforts to meet the lawsuit’s requirements.
meet our plaintiffs
(All names below are pseudonyms)
a. p.
A.P. entered foster care at just two years old. At the time the complaint was filed, she was four years old. Throughout the eighteen months that A.P. was in DHS custody, she endured six placements, three within the first four days after her placement in DHS custody. When DHS placed A.P. in her father’s custody, he kicked her in the stomach and physically abused her. In addition, DHS workers failed to make required unannounced, face-to-face visits to ensure enforcement of a no-contact court order against A.P.’s mother. In A.P.’s fifth placement, a kinship foster home, a relative who had a prior history of child abuse sexually violated A.P. every night. A.P. also reported being sexually abused in her sixth foster home. DHS failed to investigate claims of abuse. Within 19 months of custody, A.P. had 27 DHS caseworkers and 23 supervisors.
j. p.
At the time the complaint was filed, J.P. was a seven-year-old boy who had been in DHS custody for 18 months. DHS knowingly placed J.P. in foster homes where the caregivers mistreated the children in their homes. In J.P.’s 10th placement, his foster mother repeatedly physically abused him, twisting his arms, hitting him on the back of his head, and stepping on his back. In another home, J.P.’s foster parents beat him with a belt. In three of his placements, DHS required J.P. to stay in the homes, even after the agency received reports indicating abuse and harm. J.P. asked many times to be removed from several placements, but DHS ignored his requests or denied his maltreatment claims. During 21 months in DHS custody, he had 30 assigned caseworkers and 29 supervisors.
d. g.
D.G. was a five-month-old infant boy who had been in the custody of DHS since shortly after his birth. Throughout his short life, DHS moved D.G. through at least four different placements. At an inadequately staffed emergency shelter, a DHS worker carried D.G. and another baby at the same time. Unable to manage the two infants, the worker dropped D.G. on his head, fracturing his skull. At the time of the complaint, DHS was still placing D.G. in temporary foster homes.