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Idea to send: |
| Topic | Children and Families |
| Content | As director of a non-profit which contracts with several state agencies to provide services to families and as a foster parent for DHS, I have seen the devastating effect of broken families on Oklahoma’s children. Often, our response is to remove children from their homes and have Mom/Dad complete a series of steps to earn the right to “get their children back”. These families have not learned the skills necessary to successfully parent, build a committed relationship, manage a household, and balance work and home responsibilities. They frequently respond to the stresses of life by abusing drugs, alcohol, each other and even their children.
Changing the dynamic of a family is very, very difficult. Our current system has an abysmal failure rate. The generational culture of abuse can only be changed with very targeted intervention involving education, counseling, modeling, accountability and support. Much of the money spent currently results in no lasting effect on the family and systematically destroys the children we are trying to protect.
What many Oklahoma families need is a coach to help them manage their home, finances, and understand the developmental needs of children. They need to learn what you and I learned by watching our own parents. Oklahoma is in need of a parent mentor program that would target the specific needs of families and provide in- home services determined by both the family and the service provider. The concept differs from our current systems in that the needs of families are determined by the family and the response from the state is assistive instead of punitive.
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