By Dale Denwalt The Journal Record OKLAHOMA CITY – Because of drastic growth in the number of children who need help, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services is adding 300 child welfare workers to its ranks. The new hires will ...

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(JR)  – Gov. Mary Fallin has named Jari Askins, former lieutenant governor, as special adviser to the governor on child welfare and Pinnacle Plan implementation.

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By M. Scott Carter Oklahoma Watch Despite a budget hole of $611 million, a court-ordered reform of Oklahoma’s child welfare system will be funded for the 2016 fiscal year, the chairmen of the Legislature’s budget-writing committees said Monday.

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(ASSOCIATED PRESS) — The Oklahoma Department of Human Services must review plans to develop new foster homes, prepare weekly caseload reports and develop a remediation plan to reduce a Child Protective Services backlog, a new report released Monday states.

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Gov. Mary Fallin’s budget plan for FY 2015 provides less than what most agencies want, but it manages to balance the state budget and increase funding for schools and human services while reducing the state income tax, says state finance ...

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Although funding has been fairly flat since FY 2010, the agency’s rising productivity rates show that the Department of Human Services is doing more with less, but it has some critical needs to address, Director Ed Lake told lawmakers Tuesday.

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With exceptions for emergency needs, sibling groups and teenage mothers with babies, no child under 2 years of age is spending the night in a state shelter, Department of Human Services officials said Wednesday.

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When 20-plus new legislators hit the ground for the 2013 legislative session in February, they and their more-experienced colleagues will face a stack of issues from the familiar (taxes) to the unique (the “fiscal cliff”) to the heartbreaking (abuse of ...

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Edward Lake, a retired deputy commissioner with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, has accepted the position of director of Oklahoma’s DHS agency, effective Nov. 1, officials announced Monday.

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Retired Tennessee Department of Human Services deputy commissioner Edward Lake has until Oct. 15 to decide whether to accept the position of Oklahoma DHS director, which was offered to him Wednesday by the Oklahoma Human Services Commission.

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