DHS cuts jeopardizing settlement involving child welfare system

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Department of Human Services faces up to $69 million in budget cuts this fiscal year, and the state’s ongoing budget crisis could jeopardize the Pinnacle Plan, a legal settlement aimed at reforming the state’s child welfare system.

With not enough foster homes willing to take children with special needs, a growing number of children in state custody are housed in the state’s last remaining emergency shelter — Laura Dester Children’s Center in Tulsa — the latest report on Pinnacle Plan progress shows.

DHS also has already been forced to delay increases to payments to foster families and child welfare worker pay both part of the Pinnacle Plan. Even more cuts could be on the table as a deadlock on a budget deal continues at the Oklahoma Legislature.

“The signs are not good,” said Marcia Robinson Lowry, attorney for the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit that resulted in the Pinnacle Plan settlement. “What’s really sad about that is that the state had really started to make progress on some issues.”

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