Last week, I presented Senate Bill 706, which I have authored on the House side. The bill amends one aspect of court hearings for foster children, but would have a huge impact to ensure these kids have stability.
Currently, Oklahoma is one of very few states that allow biological parents to request a jury trial in parental rights termination hearings. However, jury trials drag out the process, especially in rural areas where juries are only called at certain times of the year and criminal cases take precedence. As a result, children are left waiting much longer for permanency, which does not provide stability for the child and prevents them from healing and moving forward.
SB706 seeks to change the parental rights termination process by only allowing for bench trials, which enables the courts to review these cases in a more timely manner. Forty-six states have already made this switch because of the efficiency of the process and benefits to the foster children.
Additionally, in a bench trial, the same judge that has been overseeing the case the entire time will oversee the bench trial, so they are already familiar with the details of the situation.
It is important to note that by the time parental rights termination hearings are being considered, parents have been given numerous opportunities over a long period of time to reunify their family.
This policy change is one that has been discussed for a while. Last year, several interim studies were held in both the House and Senate diving into how we can best serve Oklahoma’s foster children, and concerns surrounding the lengthy hearing process were brought up repeatedly.
The reason I decided to author this bill on the House side is due to the knowledge of the judge who has overseen the case for years versus independent people assigned to juries.
Through my education and work, I have seen many poor decisions increase the trauma to foster children. It would always be my goal to place a child with their parent. However, the parent has to take responsibility in presenting themselves as a parent and free from drugs, alcohol or whatever the problem is that prevents them from being a good parent.
The judge will have interaction with these children and parents for years during the attempt to reunify the child with their parents. The judge will know more about the traumas and how these traumas affect our children. Each time a child is placed back with the parents and the placement fails, the child becomes more traumatized. This affects their personality, how they do in school and, in the future, that lingering trauma even affects how they treat their spouses and children.
I think this bill is a good step in trying to reduce the amount of traumas to our children. It is, for most people, one of the most important parts of our life and family.
I’m very glad SB706 passed the House Children, Youth and Family Services Committee unanimously and is now headed to the House floor.
Rep. Randy Randleman, a Republican, represents House District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. His district includes McIntosh and Haskell counties and portions of Muskogee, Le Flore and Pittsburg counties.
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