We get an update on the foster care system in Oklahoma from Dr. Deb Shropshire, director of Child Welfare Services for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and Destyni Trayler, senior program director for Sunbeam Family Services. Currently, there are around 6,600 children in DHS custody in Oklahoma, which is at least a 20-year low. Dr. Deb and Destyni discuss the improvements that have led to this shift, the current challenges our state’s foster care system faces and how metro families can help by becoming foster families or supporting foster families. Despite the decrease of kids in care, more foster families are needed to increase the state’s capacity to match children with the right foster families and build networks of support.
Watch Time: 40 minutes