I left The Oklahoman earlier this month. On Sunday, my final work appears.
We — Nolan, Randy and me — spent the better part of the year annoying the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. When some problems erupted at day cares, we decided to ask for more information.
What followed was months of requests, negotiations, etc. with officials about waivers, which grant reprieves to people who normally wouldn’t be allowed around children in a day care.
At first, DHS denied such records even existed. After pushing them, we obtained waiver letters and Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation background reports submitted by those granted waivers.
While Randy and Nolan reported on the story, I took the paper records and built a database to search online. You can search by city. Take a look:
1 response so far ↓
1 claire // Nov 4, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Sorry, but i tracked you down like a hunting dog……I must thank you for your excellent work on the data for the OKDHS article….I am a kinship foster parent in Oklahoma City. I have experienced the malfeasance and wrongdoing of this agency. My foster children, husband and I were all ordered confined to our home for 55 days by OKDHS supervisors and the county director…CIVIL CONFINEMENT without reason or rationale…No due process, no rights……Grievance process got me a written confirmation of the civil confinement and an apology saying it was not within OKDHS policy to do so, from the county director…..I plan legal action….would Randy or Nolan be interested?
But again my thanks for your work…..You will be missed….Enjoy your new life in paradise!dorothyjoanne2006@yahoo.com
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