State seeks more time to shutter children’s shelter

TULSA — Questioning the wisdom of an oversight panel’s order to close the Laura Dester Children’s Center as a children’s shelter by June 30 isn’t justification for a judge to rule in the state’s favor, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

The contract monitors overseeing implementation of the Pinnacle Plan — a settlement agreement in a 2008 federal class-action lawsuit alleging abuse of state foster care children — have asked a federal judge to enforce its order.

However, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services is asking for an additional two months past the June 30 deadline to ensure safe relocation of the remaining 12 children.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell will issue a decision on the matter.

In a court filing Friday, attorneys for the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit wrote that DHS doesn’t contest the oversight panel’s authority in the matter and concedes the order to stop operating Laura Dester as a children’s shelter is within its purview.

“The Department merely ‘questions’ the wisdom of the (oversight panel),” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote. “No doubt every losing party in an arbitration has questioned the wisdom of the arbiter. Questioning the wisdom of the arbiter is no ground for vacating the arbiter’s award.”

The contract monitors filed a brief response Monday, writing that they “disagree with certain statements of DHS” but not specifying which ones.

They reiterated the basis for their request is the “dramatic increase in maltreatment in care incidents confirmed” between October and March, as well as pending maltreatment complaint investigations reported as recently as May 6.The contract monitors first imposed the June 30 deadline in a March 5 letter, citing “seven distinct referrals of child maltreatment” involving 10 children in 12 months. The monitors unanimously wrote a request to the federal judge on May 24 to support their order. DHS acknowledged issues but emphasized an underlying problem of there being nowhere else to send some of the state’s most vulnerable kids.

The state has proposed a plan to use Laura Dester as a treatment facility operated by a private entity for children with co-occuring intellectual disabilities, mental illness and extreme behavioral issues — for which some of its current foster kids would qualify.

In its response to the court May 30, DHS noted that reports of concerns or incidents have “dropped precipitously” to three since March. “It would be a disservice to the children and place them at an increased risk of maltreatment if they were shuttled off into a setting that is neither prepared nor trained to handle their behaviors simply because the Department is compelled to meet this deadline,” DHS stated.