OKLAHOMA CITY – A Senate committee passed a bill Monday afternoon to move the state’s child welfare system, including foster care, out of the Department of Human Services and into a new standalone agency.
Senate Bill 1570, authored by state Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, creates a new agency specifically focused on serving and protecting children. This new agency will take over certain child-related responsibilities currently managed by DHS, marking a significant structural change.
Rosino, who has worked on the bill for some time, filed a committee substitute on Sunday. He said his goal was to ensure Oklahoma kids are okay.
“The goal is to better help kids in the child welfare system,” Rosino said in an interview with Southwest Ledger. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
He said his proposal would consolidate the state’s two children’s agencies into a single agency, which would be overseen by a nine-member board responsible for policy and administration. Under the new proposal, the Governor would appoint five members of the agency’s board, the Senate Pro Tempore would appoint two members, and the Speaker of the House would appoint two members.
The legislation transfers all authority and responsibilities of the Child Welfare Services Division of DHS and the Office of Juvenile Affairs to the Department of Child Safety and Well Being. This new agency would be solely responsible for child welfare and juvenile affairs programs.
Funding for the new agency would be reallocated from DHS and OJA. Rosino noted the agency would have an independent administrative structure and a dedicated board. He intends to include a mental health component within the agency’s organization.
“You’ll probably have a little bit of startup cost. They’ll need their own CFO and maybe an HR department, unless we share services. Those are the things I have to work through,” he said. “I also think there has to be a mental health piece. I think we have to have somewhere for adolescent mental health, because that is one of the biggest challenges we’re having with kids.”
He said the change was necessary because DHS has become a behemoth, overseeing too many different areas within the state.
“It’s not that they’re not trying hard. And it’s not that those employees aren’t working hard,” he said. “But I think, in many cases, we’re letting too many things fall through the cracks when it comes to kids. I’m watching it. I’ve seen it. That’s the one thing; the one benefit of having been a chairman for five or six years, you get to see the history. I feel like it’s time that we are laser-focused on the well-being of children.”
Rosino, the chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said he has been reviewing near-death and death reports for some time and has grown deeply disturbed by what he has seen.
“Some of the things that are happening to children are awful,” he said. “I think that we have got to find a way where we can hold one agency accountable: one group of people accountable. We have to make sure they’re trained, make sure they’re laser-focused, make sure that their entire mission is the well-being and safety of children.”
While Rosino acknowledged the difficulty in creating a new state agency, he said it was necessary because Oklahoma’s government was failing kids.
“We’re seeing too much abuse and neglect where we’re not doing a good enough job and protecting kids,” he said. “And that’s what this (legislation) is supposed to do. We need to stay laser-focused on protecting children and their well-being in Oklahoma. That’s the goal.”
Senate Bill 1570 passed the committee by a unanimous vote. It’s expected to be heard by the full Senate in the next few weeks. Lawmakers have until May 29 to finish their work.