Common use of Shelter Use Clause in Contracts

Shelter Use. For this report period, the Co-Neutrals find that DHS made good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress toward the Target Outcomes for each of the five shelter measures. As outlined below, DHS continued through this report period to implement new and ongoing strategies to prevent new shelter placements and reduce the lengths of stay for children who experienced a shelter placement. Over the last seven years, DHS has implemented numerous strategies that have allowed the department to successfully reduce by almost 75 percent the total number of shelter nights experienced by children of all ages combined (see Table 7 below). This includes closing Oklahoma’s two DHS-operated shelters, which were the largest shelters in the state, and establishing heightened oversight of shelter placements by requiring the Child Welfare Director to authorize placing any child under 13 years of age in a shelter and requiring Regional Child Welfare Directors to approve shelter placements of youth 13 years of age or older. DHS committed that such approval would be given only after ensuring caseworkers had exhausted and clearly documented on a shelter authorization form all efforts to secure an alternate, needs-based placement to prevent a shelter stay. Importantly, DHS has achieved a 100 percent reduction in shelter-nights for children five years of age and younger. Compared to the baseline period, DHS has reduced shelter-nights for children ages six and older by 27,228 nights and reduced child-nights for children of all ages combined by 39,004 nights, which is almost three times the total number of nights reported this period. TABLE 7: NIGHTS IN SHELTERS BY AGE, JULY 2021 – DECEMBER 2021, AND CHANGE FROM BASELINE Child-Nights in Shelters by Age Baseline Performance Change (n) Change (%) 0 to 1 2,923 0 -2,923 -100.0% 2 to 5 8,853 0 -8,853 -100.0% 6 to 12 20,147 4,306 -15,841 -78.6% 13 & Older 20,635 9,248 -11,387 -55.2% DHS committed to “ensure all children are cared for in family-like settings” and to “stop its use of temporary placement in shelters for all children under 13 years of age.” In the Metrics Plan, the Co- Neutrals selected the number of “child-nights” spent in shelters as the measure to assess Oklahoma’s progress in eliminating and reducing shelter use. One “child-night” is defined as “one child in a shelter at midnight.” The total number of child-nights is calculated by summing the number of children in shelters at midnight for each night of the reporting period. The Pinnacle Plan includes an exception for shelter placement if the child is part of a sibling set of four or more being placed together. The Co-Neutrals have also allowed for the exception to place a minor parent with their child, if necessary, to keep the parent and child together (note that the child must, in fact, be placed with their minor parent).15 However, while the Co-Neutrals approved these exceptions, they are not automatic. For each child or youth in need of placement, DHS has committed to undertake reasonable efforts to place the child in a family-like setting, regardless of whether the child meets an exception. As shown in Figure 9 below, for the eleventh consecutive report period, DHS has achieved and maintained the Target Outcome of zero child-nights in shelters for children under two years of age. From a starting baseline of 2,923 child-nights, DHS has successfully eliminated shelter care for the youngest children for more than five years.

Shelter Use. For this report period, the Co-Neutrals find that DHS made good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress toward the Target Outcomes for each of the five shelter measures. As outlined below, DHS continued through this report period to implement new and ongoing strategies to prevent new shelter placements and reduce the lengths of stay for children who experienced a shelter placementshelter. Over the last seven years, DHS has implemented numerous strategies and efforts that have allowed the department to successfully reduce by almost 75 just over 70 percent the total number of shelter nights experienced by children of all ages combined (see Table 7 9 below). This includes closing Oklahoma’s two DHS-operated shelters, which were the largest shelters in the state, and establishing heightened oversight of shelter placements by requiring the Child Welfare Director to authorize placing any child under 13 years of age in a shelter and requiring Regional Child Welfare Directors to approve shelter placements of youth 13 years of age or older. DHS committed that such approval would be given only after ensuring caseworkers had exhausted and clearly documented on a shelter authorization form all efforts to secure an alternate, needs-needs- based placement to prevent a shelter stay. Importantly, DHS has importantly achieved a the most significant percentage reduction (approximately 100 percent reduction in shelter-nights percent) for children five years of age and younger. Compared to the baseline period, DHS has reduced shelter-nights for children ages six and older by 27,228 nights 25,417 and reduced child-nights in a shelter for children of all ages combined by 39,004 nights37,192, which is almost three times more than double the total number of nights reported this period. TABLE 7: NIGHTS IN SHELTERS BY AGE, JULY 2021 – DECEMBER 2021, AND CHANGE FROM BASELINE Child-Nights in Shelters by Age Baseline Performance Change (n) Change (%) 0 to 1 2,923 0 -2,923 -100.0% 2 to 5 8,853 0 -8,853 -100.01 -8,852 -99.9% 6 to 12 20,147 4,306 -15,841 -78.65,296 -14,851 -73.7% 13 & Older 20,635 9,248 -11,387 -55.210,069 -10,566 -51.2% DHS committed to “ensure all children are cared for in family-like settings” and to “stop its use of temporary placement in shelters for all children under 13 years of age.” In the Metrics Plan, the Co- Co-Neutrals selected the number of “child-nights” spent in shelters as the measure to assess Oklahoma’s progress in eliminating and reducing shelter use. One “child-night” is defined as “one child in a shelter at midnight.” The total number of child-nights is calculated by summing the number of children in shelters at midnight for each night of the reporting period. The Pinnacle Plan includes an exception for shelter placement if the child is part of a sibling set of four or more being placed together. The Co-Neutrals have also allowed for the exception to place a minor parent with their child, if necessary, to keep the parent and child together (note that the child must, in fact, be placed with their minor parent).15 parent).28 However, while the Co-Neutrals approved these exceptions, they are not automatic. For each child or youth in need of placement, DHS has committed to undertake reasonable efforts to place the child in a family-like setting, regardless of whether the child meets an exception. As shown in Figure 9 10 below, for the eleventh ninth consecutive report period, period DHS has achieved and maintained the Target Outcome of zero child-nights in shelters for children under two years of age. From a starting baseline of 2,923 child-nights, DHS has successfully eliminated shelter care for the youngest children for more than five four years.

Shelter Use. For this report period, the Co-Neutrals find that DHS made good faith efforts to achieve substantial and sustained progress toward the Target Outcomes for each of the five shelter measures. As outlined below, DHS continued through this report period to implement new and ongoing strategies to prevent new shelter placements and reduce the lengths of stay for children who experienced a shelter placement. Over the last seven years, DHS has implemented numerous strategies and efforts that have allowed the department to successfully reduce by almost 75 percent the total number of shelter nights experienced by children of all ages combined (see Table 7 6 below). This includes closing Oklahoma’s two DHS-operated shelters, which were the largest shelters in the state, and establishing heightened oversight of shelter placements by requiring the Child Welfare Director to authorize placing any child under 13 years of age in a shelter and requiring Regional Child Welfare Directors to approve shelter placements of youth 13 years of age or older. DHS committed that such approval would be given only after ensuring caseworkers had exhausted and clearly documented on a shelter authorization form all efforts to secure an alternate, needs-based placement to prevent a shelter stay. Importantly, DHS has achieved a 100 percent reduction in shelter-nights for children five years of age and younger. Compared to the baseline period, DHS has reduced shelter-nights for children ages six and older by 27,228 27,530 nights and reduced child-nights in a shelter for children of all ages combined by 39,004 39,306 nights, which is almost three times the total number of nights reported this period. For the first time since the Co- Neutrals have been monitoring this metric, DHS achieved during this report period the Target Outcome of fewer than 8,850 shelter-nights for youth ages 13 and older. TABLE 76: NIGHTS IN SHELTERS BY AGE, JULY 2021 JANUARY 1 – DECEMBER JUNE 30, 2021, AND CHANGE FROM BASELINE Child-Nights in Shelters by Age Baseline Performance Change (n) Change (%) 0 to 1 2,923 0 -2,923 -100.0% 2 to 5 8,853 0 -8,853 -100.0% 6 to 12 20,147 4,306 -15,841 -78.64,561 -15,586 -77.4% 13 & Older 20,635 9,248 -11,387 -55.28,691 -11,944 -57.9% DHS committed to “ensure all children are cared for in family-like settings” and to “stop its use of temporary placement in shelters for all children under 13 years of age.” In the Metrics Plan, the Co- Neutrals selected the number of “child-nights” spent in shelters as the measure to assess Oklahoma’s progress in eliminating and reducing shelter use. One “child-night” is defined as “one child in a shelter at midnight.” The total number of child-nights is calculated by summing the number of children in shelters at midnight for each night of the reporting period. The Pinnacle Plan includes an exception for shelter placement if the child is part of a sibling set of four or more being placed together. The Co-Neutrals have also allowed for the exception to place a minor parent with their child, if necessary, to keep the parent and child together (note that the child must, in fact, be placed with their minor parent).15 parent).36 However, while the Co-Neutrals approved these exceptions, they are not automatic. For each child or youth in need of placement, DHS has committed to undertake reasonable efforts to place the child in a family-like setting, regardless of whether the child meets an exception. As shown in Figure 9 10 below, for the eleventh tenth consecutive report period, DHS has achieved and maintained the Target Outcome of zero child-nights in shelters for children under two years of age. From a starting baseline of 2,923 child-nights, DHS has successfully eliminated shelter care for the youngest children for more than five years. FIGURE 10: 5.1 – SHELTER-NIGHTS, CHILDREN AGES 0 – 1 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 Baseline Jul-14 Jan-15 Jul-15 Jan-16 Jul-16 Jan-17 Jul-17 Jan-18 Jul-18 Jan-19 Jul-19 Jan-20 Jul-20 Jan-21 Jul-21 Jan-June 2012 Source: DHS Data For children ages two to five, the original recorded baseline was 8,853 child-nights. For this report period, there were no children in this age group who spent a night in a shelter. As shown in Figure 11 below, for this report and the last three periods combined, representing a span of two years, a total of two children ages two to five spent one night each in a shelter. This is the second time that DHS achieved the Target Outcome of zero shelter-nights for this age group.