Blaine Howard credits social worker Sarah Lohrey with helping him do what he hadn't been able to do in nearly two years - receive custody of his daughter, Zoe.
After separating from and having no contact with his wife, Howard learned she'd had a baby. When Howard went to the hospital to see the baby girl, he learned that Zoe (now two) had been taken into state custody because mother and baby tested positive for methamphetamine. Howard immediately began trying to get custody of his only child, as well as Zoe's half-sister, Codey, whom Howard had reared since she was three.
Howard complied with his treatment plan substance abuse treatment, though he's never had a substance abuse problem, anger management and domestic violence classes, as well as parenting classes.
"I'd agree to anything to get those girls home," said Howard, a welder and horse trainer. "Everything got better when Comprehensive Home-Based Services got involved."
Howard's ex-wife lost parental rights of both girls.
Lohrey, a family preservation specialist with Family and Children's Services in Tulsa, an Oklahoma Children's Services contractor, has helped Howard, not only with child development issues, but advocating for him. Lohrey wrote a report for the court explaining how well Howard was doing.
"Her report meant a lot," said Howard. "Sarah and CHBS have been the biggest help I've had."
Howard now has full custody of both girls.
Amidst the conflict and controversy of a federal class action lawsuit, the Oklahoma Children's Initiative began in 1990. The initiative's purpose was to deinstitutionalize children in state custody. Home-based services served as the centerpiece in the array of services needed to bring children back into their communities.
At the same time, rapidly increasing numbers of children entered the system as victims of abuse and neglect, and evidence showed that many of these children were adversely affected by the efforts states were making to protect them. As a result, the national focus in child welfare shifted from child safety to well-being and the capacity of the family as a whole. The family preservation movement embraced the shift from pathology to a strengths perspective and the philosophy that healthy, stable families are the best caregivers for children. Thus began the family-centered service approach and the first true partnerships of families with the child welfare system.
The Oklahoma Children's Initiative and its home-based services program, Family Focus, incorporated existing community services and resources with family-focused treatment. Contracted case managers, Child Welfare workers and community merchants and service providers comprise the team. The primary intent was to prevent removal of children from their own homes; secondly, for those who were placed in out-of-home care, to safely reunify with their families. A small percentage of cases sought to stabilize placements at risk of disruption. Funding, allocated within the contracts, helped meet emergency needs and improve homes to keep children safe.
As the Terry D. court case neared dismissal in 1998, the Oklahoma Children's Initiative became Oklahoma Children's Services. Family Focus became Comprehensive Home-Based Services.