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Oklahoma selected for federal "Home for Every Child" pilot; DHS sets kinship and in-home targets
Summary
Oklahoma will pilot the federal "Home for Every Child" performance-improvement process, DHS officials said, with an April 1 launch and targets to keep a greater share of children in their homes and with kin. The department also pledged steps to shift children from congregate care into family settings and strengthen kinship approval timelines.
Deborah Connect, assistant health director at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, told the commission the state is the first selected to participate in a redesigned federal PIP known as “Home for Every Child,” a program approved last week in Washington.
DHS said the initiative, which begins April 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2027, focuses on four pillars: keeping children safely at home when possible; prioritizing placement with relatives or other people who already have a relationship with the child; placing children into family settings rather than congregate care; and building supports so children with complex medical or behavioral needs can remain in homelike placements.
"The goal is a home for every child in the foster care system," Connect said. She described an operational target that at least 70% (the agency discussed 70—to—75%) of children contacted in the child-welfare system be served in their own homes and an aspirational target to raise kinship placements from current statewide levels of about 50—53% to roughly 75% to 80%.
Connect emphasized process changes tied to the initiative: new kinship standards designed for faster approval (the department said full approvals are now targeted within 30 days of placement), reorganized internal foster-care teams dedicated to kinship recruitment and support, and cross-agency partnerships with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, mental-health providers and juvenile justice to support children with higher levels of need.
Commissioners and audience members pressed for clarity on definitions and operational details. Connect responded that a “home” means a family-based placement rather than a single bed, that therapeutic placements would remain available when clinically necessary, and that kinship includes non-blood caregivers with a pre-existing relationship.
The presentation closed with commissioners offering general support and offers to help build partnerships. DHS staff said the state would share the PIP document with commission staff and the public on request.
Ending: DHS officials said evaluation and stakeholder outreach will continue as the pilot unfolds; the commission asked for future progress reports and invited staff to return with data as outcomes emerge.
