OKLAHOMA CITY – Healthier eating, better access to quality daycare and reduced rates of child trafficking are among initiatives a child advocacy group wants lawmakers to consider this legislative session.
Joe Dorman, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said children need to consume more nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables. As a result, he wants to enhance the Double Up Oklahoma program that gives low-income families more money to buy fruits and veggies.
Double Up is part of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that assists low-income families. Double Up Oklahoma matches the value (up to $20 per day) of SNAP dollars spent at participating farmers markets and grocery stores.
“We need to improve the quality of food they (children) are eating,” Dorman said.
Improved nutrition has the potential to positively influence students’ academic performance and behavior, according to a 2019 article on the website Healthy Food Choices in Schools.
“Existing data suggests that with better nutrition students are better able to learn, students have fewer absences, and students’ behavior improves, causing fewer disruptions in the classroom,” the article states.
Food plans for young girls and boys should be rich in protein, fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The Double Up program will help farmers markets and local grocery stores that participate in the program. Homeland is the only chain grocer to join the Double Up program, Dorman said.
He is confident Republicans and Democrats will support the SNAP enhancement idea since it’s a nonpartisan issue.
Dorman and the OICA will also encourage legislators to use federal COVID-19 relief money to ensure all children have access to safe, quality childcare when their parents are at work. He also wants some of the money Oklahoma received to be used for counseling related to COVID-19 stress. Dorman did not specify how much money OICA will request for their legislative agenda.
Another critical component in OICA’s agenda is the reduction of child trafficking including the establishment of a statewide review of current services. OICA wants to work with other states to reduce trafficking across state lines and increase access to services for youth experiencing homelessness.
“The trafficking problem is going through every part of the state,” Dorman said. “We need better oversight of what’s going on.”
He also noted there are few resources, such as shelters and homes, to help homeless youth who have been trafficking victims.
“We just don’t have enough resources to help them get back into a normal life,” he said.
One resource, The Red Cord, is located in Lawton and offers help to trafficking victims. It also provides educational seminars to community groups wanting to fight trafficking. More information about the organization can be found at www.theredcord.org.
Other OICA issues won’t include a request for state money, but rather policy changes and reallocation of funds, Dorman said.
OICA will also ask for:
- Improved paid family leave, allow for regional or state increases in minimum wage, increase compensation for defense attorneys in deprived cases, reduce teen pregnancy through appropriate lifestyle classes and conversations, and modernize the Landlord Tenant Act to reflect modern costs.
- Implement support and increase access for High Quality Legal Representation.
- Improve tracking of child abuse and neglect, including training of childcare providers (i.e., training to recognize abuse and obligation to report), appropriate budget and staffing of DHS programs and employees, and increase follow-up on reported cases of child abuse and neglect.
- Support policies that encourage preventative services for children at risk of system involvement.
- Ensure there is a strong bond and connection between the state and tribal governments to better serve children in need.
- Support policies that protect children while supporting a just criminal justice system and reduce reliance on fees and fines to pay for government services.
- Support safe and appropriate placements for children in congregate care settings and encourage family engagement.
- Support actions to improve and modernize the state’s response to juvenile justice.