On children’s issues, lawmakers get praise for bipartisan work

When it came to legislation that affected children’s lives, advocates praised Oklahoma lawmakers’ bipartisanship through a hard budget cycle.

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy pushed for laws that would have reformed the criminal justice system and improved how the government interacts with minors, said CEO Joe Dorman.

The area he’s most proud of is the effort to feed hungry kids through summer food programs.

“That’s probably not a glamorous item like saving kids in the court or stopping some kind of abuse, but for the level of what we’re seeing for poverty and lack of access to quality food, it’s the little things like that — that make a difference day to day in kids’ lives,” Dorman said.

State Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, filed legislation that will let schools donate food to nonprofits, which will then store the food at the school for children to take home. State Sen. A.J. Griffin co-authored the bill.

“It allows schools and food banks to work together to not waste food,” said Griffin. “For some strange reason, we needed to pass a law that said don’t throw away perfectly good food that can be sent home with a child.”

Griffin is a Republican; Dorman said her work with Dunnington on his House Bill 1875 is one example of bipartisanship on display when it comes to children’s issues.

“I was very pleased when it came to child well-being issues on how successful we are, especially when you consider there was no new revenue,” said Dorman. “We had to be very selective on the bills we promoted because we knew nothing would make it through with a price tag on it.”

Community gardens

Lawmakers also passed Senate Bill 749, which creates a program that supports community gardens in low-income parts of the state — another bill aimed at improving child nutrition.

Dorman’s organization has begun focusing on summer food programs so children can have something to eat while they’re not in school. In a blog post shared by the institute, state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister wrote that the state ranks 51st in the nation for students eligible for free and reduced-cost lunches who also participate in summer feeding programs.

“Participating is remarkably easy,” Hofmeister wrote. “Almost all of the 600-plus sites are open. Kids 18 and under simply show up and eat, no questions asked. No red tape or paperwork is required, and there is no limit on meals.”

People can text the word FOOD to 877877, and they will receive a reply showing the three nearest sites, hours of operation and meals served.

Griffin said that even though negotiating a budget was challenging, most services that directly support children were spared from cuts. And despite the bipartisanism, she said, there are still disagreements on what role the government plays in a child’s life.

Family support

“It serves our state to limit those adverse childhood experiences and provide support to those families so kids can grow up healthy,” said Griffin. “Because if they don’t, we will pay the bill in increased incarceration and in substance abuse that deteriorates our society, and then the fact that these are not going to be productive workers for our business community.”

Senate Bill 717 expands the use of registries in child care business background checks. It was signed into law.

“What we’ve seen recently with the veterans centers, other areas where people are going to work where they would have a caregiver status, it’s important to check all the different registries to make sure the individual does not have some kind of record,” said Dorman.

Griffin said there were bills that would have caused more damage than good. Lawmakers considered allowing suspension of third-graders who are violent, something Griffin said caused her great concern because she favors intervention rather than just sending them home.

“If an 8-year-old is violent, there is a reason. There is a cause,” she said. “We know enough about the development of the brain to know that there was something that occurred that changed this child’s brain so that they act out in that way.”