Child advocacy is needed more than ever in Oklahoma: OICA Fall Forum Overview

I had the privilege of attending the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy (OICA) annual fall forum the first week of November 2023. The OICA fall forum is an annual four-day event in Oklahoma City. The first day was spent on Zoom, two days were spent at the Oklahoma State Capitol, and the last day was spent at the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits. The purpose of the Fall Forum is for legislators, advocates, health professionals, and teaching professionals from across Oklahoma to come together and discuss the 2024 legislative agenda and advocacy priorities. The priorities at hand were foster youth issues, counseling, mental health, learning loss, access to children’s support programs (Soonercare, SNAP, WIC, Free- and Reduced- Lunches), and child abuse prevention. The event included workshops, panel discussions, and a mock legislature.

Oklahoma State Capitol

The First Day

The first day was spent on JamBoard. JamBoard is a feature of Google where individuals can collaborate on an interactive whiteboard. Individuals were able to place on the whiteboard what their priorities are regarding child advocacy. Many topics were discussed during the meeting. One of the important topics was how to improve the foster care system. To prevent new babies from entering the foster care system, it was proposed to maintain and expand the state’s home visitation programs for first-time mothers. This expansion would serve more expecting families in Oklahoma. 

Another important topic was how to recover from learning loss in schools. The proposed solutions included having smaller classroom sizes, and making sure that teachers have proper training. Every year the number of emergency teacher certifications goes up. These certificates are for educators who haven’t yet met the state’s teaching qualifications, but do hold a bachelor’s degree. It was suggested to provide clinicians in schools since not every student has access to a primary care provider. Additionally, the need to get rid of culture wars was highlighted. Students and teachers have to deal with other pressing issues that are not being addressed by culture wars.

Two Days at the Oklahoma State Capitol

The first day at the Capitol was advocacy training, I was not able to attend the first day. The second day at the Capitol participants engaged in various breakout sessions. In the access to children's support programs group, attendees discussed ways to enhance access to free and reduced lunches in schools. The group emphasized the importance of providing free breakfast and lunch to all students since well-fed students are better learners. Another breakout group focused on child abuse prevention, where participants highlighted the need to educate school children at an early age on what constitutes abuse and inappropriate touching and how to respond by saying “No.” Based on the discussions I heard, I could tell how deeply the event impacted the attendees. Many directors of organizations spoke passionately about their work and accomplishments in their respective communities. While there has been progress, it's important to acknowledge that there is still room for improvement.

A discussion of House Bill 1028 was important for the upcoming 2024 legislative session. The bill, authored by Representative John Talley and Senator Kay Floyd, seeks to prohibit school personnel from using corporal punishment on students with disabilities. During our mock legislature, the members of the legislature vigorously debated on the House floor whether HB 1028 should pass. Supporters of the bill argued that school personnel should not inflict physical pain to children with disabilities for any reason. Those against the bill's passage raised concerns about why the bill only targeted students with significant cognitive disabilities and not all children. Overall, I believe it came off as a surprise that some of our public schools still practice corporal punishment. Despite the opposition, the bill passed with flying colors through the mock legislature.

In the discussions that followed, the "We Don’t Hit Report" by the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice was cited as a source of data on children being spanked in school. The report highlights that Native American children receive one-fourth of all corporal punishment, and Black students are two and a half times more likely to be hit. Many questioned the fairness of excluding only one group from being hit while the rest of the student population remained vulnerable to corporal punishment. The speeches by the attendees during the mock legislature made it clear that inflicting pain on children for disciplinary purposes perpetuates a cycle of violence. It was emphasized that HB 1028 would help break this cycle and pave the way for a safer and more inclusive learning environment for all students.

When I think about corporal punishment, I think about how only in a school setting is hitting children permissible. The youth in Oklahoma face numerous challenges, including poor health outcomes and domestic abuse. Research has shown that corporal punishment has a lasting negative impact on development and mental health. Being hit can permanently change the structure of a child’s brain. It is important that the Oklahoma legislation comes together to pass HB 1028. Oklahoma’s youth deserve to be in a school environment where they can be fostered and nurtured.

HB 1028 is currently stalled in the Oklahoma Senate and is eligible to be advanced into law during the 2024 legislative session.

The Last Day

The last day of the OICA Fall Forum was filled with wrap-ups and reflections. We had the pleasure of receiving a presentation from four of the members of a 12-member Task Force that studied the child welfare system. The presenters expressed a sincere concern about the welfare system and discussed their recommendations, one being to improve the effectiveness of the juvenile court system.

Suzette Vontrel Chang shares her presentation on Thick Descriptions.

Suzette Vontrel Chang, a practicing anthropologist, delivered a presentation during the last session. Chang uses her anthropological background to initiate conversations about equity, diversity, and inclusion. She emphasized the importance of embracing discomfort and using it to challenge our preconceptions, which can disrupt false societal norms. I found Chang's perspective to be a great way to conclude the forum. After four days of discussing how to reform the system, the last session was an opportunity to reflect on our innate biases and how they can affect the system. It's necessary to recognize our biases and work on them within ourselves if we want to create meaningful change.

Conclusion

As someone who organizes at the state level, it was a dream come true to have various important stakeholders from across Oklahoma, who care about child advocacy, come together. The discussion was broad and covered every aspect of a child's life, from the classroom to the household, along with healthcare and mental health. Everyone shared a common goal of creating a better state for Oklahoma's children. The importance of child advocacy and improving the livelihood of our youth was very apparent during the forum.

Written by Caressa Bossa, Community Outreach Associate at OK Appleseed