Celebrating unity, partnerships

Karen Vineyard Waddell, president and chief executive officer for The Lynn Institutes, said Safe Families was a tangible outgrowth of the Count Me In 4 Kids Collaborative, which was formed shortly after the Pinnacle Plan was developed for the DHS. The Pinnacle Plan is a child welfare plan created as a result of a Tulsa federal class action lawsuit.

Waddell said the collaborative has resulted in many other positives, in addition to Safe Families.

She said the goal was to have organizations and groups concerned about families to come together to share ideas and learn each others’ areas of expertise without a sense of competition.

“We quickly figured out that this wasn’t just about foster kids. This was about all the children of Oklahoma and all the families throughout Oklahoma that are at risk,” Waddell said. “The network stuck, and friendships grew.”

She said people involved in the collaborative are excited that so many individuals and groups from different sectors of the community have been willing to get involved.

“The thing that is fascinating to us now is that when we started we wanted representatives from education, providers from DHS, case workers from mental health and juvenile justice. We wanted parents, we wanted foster families, we wanted foster kids. We wanted citizens at large and we wanted the judicial system, judges and we wanted the DA, but we didn’t dream that we would ever have them engaged in the way that they are now,” Waddell said.

“It’s so exciting because we can all work that much better to be able to help children.”