Local and state partners discuss services for children and youth
Many Oklahomans remember the horrors revealed in the early 1980s investigations into allegations of child abuse and neglect for children in the custody of the state. More than three decades later, the entities charged with advocating for those children are still in place. This year, two agencies, the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth (OCCY) and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) travelled across the state to tour available resources and visit with community leaders.
Wednesday afternoon, Carter County area leaders, including Ardmore Mayor Sheryl Ellis, Ardmore Police Chief Kevin Norris, Ardmore City Manager Kevin Boatwright, and Carter County Commissioner Jerry Alvord met with Annette Wisk Jacobi, Executive Director of OCCY, Bradley J. Wilson, Commissioner, Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, Joe Dorman, Chief Executive Officer for OICA, and others.
Ardmore Mayor Sheryl Ellis said amid ongoing concern about the effects of COVID-19, she is fearful of the long-term health impacts of the pandemic – and the uptick in substance misuse by youth. "We are concerned for those who don’t have a stable family life or a place to sleep, a balanced diet, or access to health care,” Ellis said. “I suspect in some cases we’re not aware that help is needed. That’s the value of this discussion. An educated community is a better community. Together, we can find resources. Nobody has to do without.”
The meeting, which was open to the public, was a discussion of what Ardmore and Carter County are doing right, and where area children and families could use extra support. Information gathered through that meeting as well as tours of local resource and community organizations will be included in the Oklahoma State Plan for Services to Children and Youth. The State Plan identifies priorities for services provided to children across the state, including information concerning the availability and accessibility of various human services, health, mental health, and education programs that serve children and their families at the community level.
After touring several area organizations, OCCY director Annette Wisk Jacobi said the close-knit community of the Ardmore area gives her hope. “Seeing organizations partner and band together to meet community needs in a big way is huge,” Jacobi said. “That isn’t true for every community.”
For more information on OCCY visit www.ok.gov/occy or find them on Facebook at @OKKidsCommission. Connect with OICA on Facebook or Twitter via @OklaChildAdv or on Instagram at @okchildadvocacy.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Ardmoreite: Local leadership and state programs OCCY, OICA discuss youth services
