People experiencing homelessness must be able to do basic tasks like bathing or eating on their own to get a bed in the state’s only respite center. But many can’t, and the need is growing.
Lawmakers said earlier this year they believed there would be momentum this session to pass bills addressing Oklahoma’s maternal health care problems and expanding family supports after the state enacted a near-total ban on abortions last year.
A statewide, five-year plan to address homelessness will likely go unfinished. No other group exists to track homelessness across Oklahoma.
Administrators say staff are frequently working 12-hour shifts, and though they try to avoid them, 16-hour shifts are sometimes necessary. Forty-eight out of 115 front-line positions are currently open.
In Oklahoma, parents have a right to an attorney, but the state doesn’t currently have the funding or systems in place to ensure high-quality legal representation. Judges and lawyers say it contributes to fewer family reunifications and kids spending a longer time in state custody.
Many of the bills are pulled directly from recommendations from the HELP task force Gov. Kevin Stitt created to study how to support women through unplanned or crisis pregnancies after abortion was banned in the state last year.
Lawmakers filed dozens of bills to expand social services and improve child welfare policies. Advocates said these changes have been desperately needed for years.
The relocated laboratory was forced to outsource some tests and was cited by federal inspectors after contractor Prairie One Solutions took over the facility in late 2020.
