Two Oklahomans win child advocacy awards
Oklahoma was well represented in one of the nation’s most prestigious award programs recognizing excellence in child welfare systems.
Two of the nine recipients of the Casey Excellence for Children Awards were from the state: Tulsa resident Lupe Ortiz Tovar got the alumni award and Jami Ledoux, child welfare division director for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, received a leadership award.
“To me, it shows that no matter how small or big we think our nation or work is, Okies are making a name for ourselves by investing in our communities,” Tovar said. “Our waves of change are reaching wider than we think.”
The alumni award is given to former foster children who have demonstrated extraordinary effort to improve the lives of children or families.
Tovar aged out of foster care in Arizona, obtained a degree in psychology, then became active in starting foster care alumni organizations. She served on the Foster Care Alumni of America board for about a decade and pushed for critical child welfare reforms at the federal level.
Tovar has participated in Capitol Hill briefings, testified before congressional committees and attended the 2011 Oval Office signing of the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act. In 2015, she was honored at the White House in the Champions of Change program.
“I hope people get a glimpse into the waves of hope that are created by including those who’ve lived in foster care within the plight to improve the child welfare system,” Tovar said. “All stakeholders hold such a personal lived expertise that’s powerful when joined with those allies within the child welfare field working towards improving the foster care experience for all impacted by it.”
At age 32, Tovar was adopted by Clay and Johnny Finck-Ward of Tulsa. She says it’s “never too late to find a forever family.”
Ledoux, on the night of the award presentation to Tovar, took noted of how much it meant for Tovar to have her family in attendance.
“Most of us take for granted what it means to have that kind of support system, but she doesn’t at all,” Ledoux said. “She cherishes every minute of it, and we all need those reminders of what we’re fighting for. We want every child to have what Lupe now has, except we want them to have it before they exit our system.”
The leadership awards are given to individuals in child welfare who have significantly helped to improve outcomes for children and families.
Ledoux took over the Child Welfare Division at the state Department of Human Services in 2014. That was two years after the implementation of the Pinnacle Plan, the settlement agreement stemming from a federal classaction lawsuit that had alleged abuses in foster care.
The ongoing plan has 27 targeted areas for improvement and includes an independent oversight panel.
“There’s a drastic difference between a system in crisis mode and a system that can thoughtfully and strategically focus on key goals and strategies,” Ledoux said. “In Oklahoma, we’ve experienced both.
“We’ve been able to transition to a system that functions in a state of continuous quality improvement, allowing us to thoughtfully examine our data and to engage with external and internal stakeholders to effectively strategize how to create long-term sustainable progress within our system instead of focusing our attention continuously on putting out fires.”
Ledoux said the Legislature’s continued specified funding of the child welfare division and collaborations among groups in the state have allowed for incremental successes.
The Casey program pointed to Oklahoma’s reduction of entries into foster care, which had risen from about 8,000 children in 2012 to 11,300 in 2014. It is now at about 8,800 children.
Ledoux helped develop an initiative to address systemic issues such as enhanced training for staff and resource parents; improved outreach to lawmakers, American Indian tribes, the judiciary and the public; and increased use of data.
In receiving the award, Ledoux credits her division’s staff.