Oklahoma Has New DHS Ombudsman
“A new position has been created in the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to resolve problems and complaints for foster parents.
Lisa Buck, a longtime foster parent and professional advocate, has been named the foster care ombudsman within the Office of Client Advocacy. The position pays $62,000 a year.
The Office of Client Advocacy is an independent, investigative and advocacy office within DHS intended to promote client safety and the professional delivery of services by the agency.
Buck and her husband have had eight foster children, adopting two of them. The Oklahoma City couple also has four biological daughters and two other sons, who have become part of the family through church mentorship.
Buck was an original member of the 111 Project, which helped create initiatives and awareness in the faith community about foster child needs.
She has spent the past 10 years as a professional advocate, including seven years with Pfizer Inc., working with nonprofits in three states to meet their advocacy and government relations goals. Most recently, she served as a development director for the National Alliance of Mental Illness in Oklahoma.
Senate Bill 1793, which went into effect Nov. 1, mandated a new grievance and complaint process for foster parents. The law requires the collaboration and oversight of both the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth and the DHS Office of Client Advocacy. The two offices have been working together to establish an online complaint system,okfosterparentvoices.org.
The procedures have been modified for foster parents. The statute requires all grievances and complaints be resolved within 60 days. However, initial responses are now answered within three business days and are tracked by the foster care ombudsman.
“Foster parents have not had this opportunity before,” Buck said in a press release. “This process will help them understand what their rights are, provide them with answers and closure, and allow their voices to be heard.””
New DHS ombudsman to handle foster parents’ problems, complaints[Tulsa World 1/9/15 by Ginnie Graham]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
I went to the ‘Foster Parent Rights’ page– some of them are reasonable, but others reek of PAP entitlement and seem tailored to facilitate foster/adopt babyscooping.
Why does Lisa Buck think foster parents SHOULD have the right to influence child placement decisions? They’re paid employees of the CPS system, who have been contracted to care for the children placed in their homes. That doesn’t mean they have a “right” to weigh in on whether parental rights should be terminated, or have their opinions be given the same weight as TRAINED professionals like psychologists and social workers with years of post-graduate education and practical experience in their fields.
Still less do they have a “right” to be notified of the details of how the real parents’ court case is progressing. And if they want to adopt the children in question, it is a real conflict of interest to give them such power and access to the decision-making process to aid them in pursuing this goal.
http://www.okfosterparentvoices.org/?page_id=109