OPEA

For Immediate Release:

Contact:  Mark Beutler                                                Online Resources:

Director of Communications                                          Web site: www.opea.org

405.429.0533                                                              Podcast: http://podcast.opea.org/

markb@opea.org                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

OPEA CALLS ON LEGISLATURE TO FUND DHS BEFORE COURT INVOLVEMENT

OKLAHOMA CITY (February 20, 2009) – The Oklahoma Public Employees Association is asking the state legislature to “do the right thing now” and provide additional funding to the Department of Human Services before the courts make a decision for them.

“Right now the legislature has an opportunity to step up to the plate and provide additional funding for the DHS and its employees,” said OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley.  “This should have been done at least 10 years ago.  Our lawmakers have an opportunity to correct this problem before it goes further.”

A child advocacy group has filed a lawsuit seeking an overhaul of Oklahoma’s child welfare system.  OPEA says it will share vital information the court needs to make the best decisions for the long-term benefit of child welfare workers and the children they serve to protect.

“Ultimately this is about protecting Oklahoma’s children,” Zearley said.  “DHS and its employees have done a tremendous job with the meager resources provided in trying to protect our children.  It is the obligation of Oklahoma’s legislative leaders to fund this vital state service. The responsibility for this legal action falls squarely on past legislatures who should have already corrected these funding problems a decade ago.

“OPEA calls on Oklahoma’s lawmakers not to wait for a judge to mandate changes that will be expensive and over-burdensome, but to take the initiative now while it is still in their hands,” Zearley said.

Oklahoma Public Employees Association (www.opea.org) is a non-profit labor organization that has represented the interests of state employees at the capitol in Oklahoma since 1975.