OKLAHOMA CITY – Foster care, criminal justice and health care are among the 10 interim studies that will be conducted this summer and fall at the request of state Sen. Jessica Garvin.
Garvin, R- Duncan, asked for studies that focus on foster parents’ rights, the number of foster homes in Oklahoma, bonding assessments in child welfare cases, medical payment disparities in rural and urban settings and medical staffing.
“All of these (foster care) studies are a direct result from the past legislative session and are from constituents,” she said. “Are we losing foster care families because they’re moving out of state? It’s possible. We’ll know more depending what we find from the study. I want to research if our state has an appropriate number of foster care homes and if they’re equally distributed throughout the state, and if bonding assessments should be used in child welfare cases. In this same arena, I’ve requested a study to determine if our state has enough child welfare workers to properly meet the needs of Oklahomans.”
Other interim studies center on whether a mental health diagnosis are being considered during sentencing hearings and if there are adequate resources in comparing liability and property insurance options.
Garvin, who has been a foster parent in the past, said some families will take a child as a newborn and be the only family they know for the first 24 to 36 months of their life. In some cases, the child is returned to its biological family. That’s where bonding assessments with the biological family come into play, she said.
“I want to know what Oklahoma can do to use bonding assessments to determine the best place to put these children and the role bonding assessments should play in policy decisions,” Garvin said. “I also want to see how the assessments are used in different states.”
Foster parents, in some instances, become frustrated when children are returned to their biological family when it’s apparent the best place is with the foster family, Garvin said.
“In those cases, the biological parents are doing just enough to get by,” she said. “Is that the best place for the child?”
In one instance involving a child’s pending adoption with their foster parents, a disabled grandfather with no apparent source of income and with no prior relationship with the child, intervened in the adoption and was awarded custody of the child, Garvin said. Garvin did not provide names because of the confidentiality requirement with state adoptions.
“The parents were both in prison, but the social workers went by the book. They did nothing wrong. I hear these stories day after day, but if the book is wrong then we need to change it,” the senator said.
Garvin also wants to examine the use of mental health diagnosis at sentencing hearings and if judges are taking those diagnoses into consideration.
“The reality is if someone commits a crime and they do not receive rehabilitation, they’ll just wind up in prison again,” she said. “Are we treating these mental health disorders the way we should at sentencing hearings? That’s what I want to find out.”
Garvin also wants to examine insurance payment disparities between urban and rural providers and “see if this creates gaps in services.”
“I’d also like the legislature to study various provider settings in the state and nationwide to determine why Oklahoma’s health care facilities are inadequately staffed,” she said.
Interim studies meetings are open to the public. Everyone is welcome to attend in-person or watch live on the Senate website at www.oksenate.gov. All studies must be completed by November. In many instances, lawmakers file bills based on the results of interim studies.