As vice chair of the Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee on Human Services, I attended budget hearings at the Capitol this week.
On Tuesday, we heard from Director Justin Brown of the Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services (DHS), who took over the agency in 2019 and has been working hard to change the culture to be more customer-service oriented.
Director Brown said one of the agency’s goals is to provide positive experiences for people who interact with them. Since DHS has undergone some significant changes in the last few years, I wanted to give you an update and share information on their requested budget.
DHS is our largest state agency and employs more than 6,300 people. For fiscal year 2023, they are requesting a $3.4 billion budget.
Director Brown gave updates on different aspects of the agency. The Adult Family Services division supported 395,517 families with $1.74 billion in SNAP benefits over the past year.
Aging and Adult Protective Services provides meals to senior citizens and investigates possible abuse and neglect of seniors. They delivered 8.1 million meals to seniors in FY21, and there were 24,138 reported cases of senior abuse and neglect.
Child Support and Child Welfare Services annually investigates about 80,000 reports of abuse or neglect of children in Oklahoma. There were 174,092 open child support cases at the end of 2021.
Lastly, Director Brown discussed Developmental Disabilities. DHS oversees 5,531 disability cases and has reduced the Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS) waiting list significantly.
DHS serves 115,687 children through child care centers across Oklahoma. I’ve worked extensively with DHS to adjust the funding method used to pay daycares so we can keep them open in severe situations when attendance is low, such as the COVID pandemic. This method will be used in the next year or two to ensure these centers stay open and their workers remain employed, which serves the whole family by allowing children’s parents to work.
I thought it was important for my constituents to understand how DHS wants to create a better relationship between the agency and Oklahomans.
During the pandemic, DHS transitioned much of their workforce to providing services out of their homes. This saves money on brick-and-mortar buildings. However, it is my goal to have offices for DHS workers in our elementary schools. This would portray DHS as a means of help before an abuse or crisis happens.
I encourage schools to ask a DHS member to be at school on the day of enrollment for pre-k and kindergarten students. This will hopefully give the parents the idea that DHS is there to provide help and resources rather than being viewed as negative and punitive.
As your state representative, it’s a privilege to keep you informed of how your tax money is used. Next week, I’ll provide an update on the budget hearing for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
As always, you may contact me at randy.randleman@okhouse.gov or (405) 557-7375. Thank you for allowing me to serve House District 15!
Rep. Randy Randleman, a Republican, serves District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Haskell County and portions of Muskogee, Sequoyah, LeFlore, Pittsburg and McIntosh counties.
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