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Advocates urge modest foster‑care stipend increase as commission reviews House Bill 2030
Summary
Advocates told the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth that House Bill 2030 would raise the daily foster stipend by $5 — from about $22 to $27 — and urged the commission to support targeted options if full funding proves infeasible. Presenters cited recruitment and retention pressures and presented rough fiscal estimates.
Sarah Herrion, executive director of the Foster Care Association of Oklahoma, told the commission that House Bill 2030 would add $5 per day to the basic foster‑care daily rate, raising the current daily payment to about $27 and providing additional help to families who take in children from the state system.
"Right now, the daily rate ... is between 17 and $22 a day," Herrion said. "If you imagine a 10‑ or 15‑year‑old surviving on that daily rate, it is nearly impossible." She called the proposed $5 increase a "vast improvement" while acknowledging it would not fully close the gap between payments and the cost of raising a child.
Herrion and other speakers warned lawmakers and commissioners that the measure’s full fiscal impact depends on scope. An author’s original draft that would have covered about 20,000 children carried an estimated state cost of roughly $18 million; Herrion described a scaled option covering children currently in foster care at an estimated state cost of about $3.9 million, with a potential federal match.
Commissioners asked whether the Department of Human Services backed the request and whether increases would be tied to annual appropriations. Herrion said she had consulted DHS leadership and that the department’s director "is in favor of supporting foster children," but several commissioners expressed discomfort taking a formal position on pending legislation that could affect another agency’s budget.
Supporters argued the stipend would help recruit and retain households willing to take siblings and older youth, populations commissioners and advocates described as the most difficult to place. Several commissioners said they supported the policy aim but wanted more clarity on the bill’s final fiscal language before endorsing a formal position.
The commission did not take a formal policy vote on HB2030 at the meeting; commissioners discussed options and asked staff to continue tracking the bill’s fiscal details and potential target populations for prioritization.
