We at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy want to help parents avoid those who would want to pull Halloween “tricks” on you and your children. Here are some safety tips to help keep your children safe. Did you know that child pedestrian injuries are more likely on Halloween than any other night of the year? Research shows that evening from 6 to 9 p.m. is the riskiest time of day for child pedestrians. Ensure the children know the rules of the road and how to avoid being hit by a vehicle. It is best to always accompany younger children as the excitement often gets to them as they move from house to house. They will oftentimes not look both ways before crossing a street, and then their costumes often block part of their vision. If trick-or-treating does not start until after dark where you live, consider checking with your local community bulletin boards or organizations for Halloween activities offered earlier in the day. Encourage your older children who are going out to travel with at least one other child who is as old or older than they are, and better yet, travel in a group. Ensure their mobile phone is fully charged with the tracking app turned on. If your older children are trick-or-treating alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home and get flashlights with batteries for everyone. It is also best to discuss “stranger danger” prior to going out for trick-or-treating. Caution kids to never enter a home or car for a treat. Notify law enforcement authorities immediately about any suspicious or unlawful activity. Review with your child how to call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they ever have an emergency, get lost, or are prone to wander. You can also check the database of registered sex offenders in your area so you can avoid those houses altogether. You can get the database at https://sors.doc.ok.gov/ , put in your address, and get the addresses of those you might prefer to avoid. While you want children to have their mobile phones with them for emergencies, talk with them about the risks of distracted walking. This includes text messaging, talking on or looking at their cell phone, and listening to music. This can also lead to falls, or worse, being hit by a vehicle. You should also encourage children to cross the street as a group in established crosswalks. Most (62%) child pedestrian traffic fatalities occur mid-block, rather than at intersections. Make sure kids know not to cross the street safely between parked cars or out of driveways or alleys. When planning costumes, try to ensure they are bright and reflective. A brightly colored treat bag or glow-in-the-dark elements can be a fun way to incorporate safety into a scary costume. Consider adding reflective tape or striping to darker costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility. Remind children that it is best to stay on well-lit streets and always use sidewalks. If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic. Encourage them to only go to homes with porch lights on and, ideally, well-lit pathways, and preferably where they know the person or where an organized neighborhood Halloween gathering is occurring. I hope this does not increase fears about the holiday as this is truly an enjoyable time for both children seeking candy and those adults who love to see the joy of kids in costume. If you are passing out treats at your house or at an organized gathering, I hope you, too, have a happy Halloween!

On November 5, the General Election will occur for Americans to decide on the candidates who are seeking office that they would want to represent them for the next term of office. Ranging from President to municipal elections, each office is charged with certain responsibilities. Campaigns are being waged to win your votes. There will also be two state questions on the Oklahoma ballot this year. I recommend going to https://www.kosu.org/politics/2024-10-10/here-are-the-state-questions-youll-see-on-oklahoma-ballots and read brief descriptions of the questions; you can also go to a site to read the full language of what is to be enacted if approved. You also will decide several judicial retention votes. Ranging from lower courts to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, voters get to decide whether a judge or justice remains in office. These court members were vetted by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) and then appointed by the sitting governor from the qualified applicants from the list. The JNC was established to eliminate political corruption through appointments and has 15 commissioners who serve without compensation. Nine of the 15 commissioners are non-lawyers. Governor Stitt will appoint six of the non-lawyer commissioners, one from each of the six congressional districts as they existed in 1967, to serve staggered six-year terms. Of the six non-lawyer commissioners named by the governor, no more than three can belong to any one political party. The three remaining non-lawyer commissioners serve two-year terms as members-at-large. One is appointed by the Senate President Pro Tempore and one is appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (both Republicans). The JNC itself selects the third non-lawyer commissioner. No more than two of the three members-at-large can be from the same political party. I encourage you to learn more about those judges and justices up for retention, and this information is provided purely so you can be more informed before voting. Of the three state Supreme Court justices on the ballot, one is the only military veteran on the Supreme Court, having served in the U.S. Navy. Another was appointed by two Republican governors to lower courts, and this justice also created the Parent and Children Representation Task Force under the courts. This task force seeks to reduce the backlog of court cases with families who have cases involving their children (a major issue which OICA assisted in helping pass legislation to assist families in their court battles to keep their children). The third Justice, raised in rural Oklahoma, was instrumental in establishing the Sovereignty Symposium, a conference reviewing tribal law, which has helped Oklahoma navigate the complicated rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a recent decision, all nine justices, appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, agreed that a school district’s local school board, not a state agency nor the Oklahoma State Board of Education, has the power to decide which books to include in school libraries. This local control given to local boards and parents is a perfect example of thoughtful decision making and finding the correct path. In another decision, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a scholarship program for special needs students was constitutional and specifically noted this program does not directly benefit private schools or churches, but individual students. This thoughtful deliberation allowed parents to access programs which would benefit their children due to the needs faced, not if the school is public or private, which also includes religious private schools. So, please do your research when it comes to these votes and do not rely on the millions spent on inflammatory commercials. We need good people to serve, not those who the most money can buy.

The season for legislative interim studies is quickly coming to an end. I would like to thank those lawmakers who have dedicated time and effort to ensuring that the studies which the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) requested were handled superbly. Each of the studies which we followed involving children were enlightening and others we were an active part in, I felt, were useful for policymakers. OICA is deeply concerned though about one upcoming study, and we want to encourage Oklahomans to pay close attention to the conversation. Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, was granted a study entitled “The Effectiveness of Properly Administered Corporal Punishment.” This study will be heard before the House Rules Committee on Monday, Oct 21. The study is in no doubt a response to the efforts over the past two sessions to end the practice of corporal punishment on disabled students in Oklahoma schools, a measure OICA strongly supported. Olsen was one of the most outspoken opponents of this effort to prevent government employees from hitting disabled children, some of whom might not even understanding for what they are being punished. Our OETA conversation on this topic can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=EIHt1rr4wl0 on YouTube. Olsen is clearly on the opposite side of this issue from OICA and many other child advocates. His study description outlines that he will have the testimonies of two or three superintendents, two child psychologists, one opposing view, testimony of a homeschooling father, and a brief look at the Scriptures. Despite one opposing view on the agenda, the title of the study presents its forgone conclusion: inflicting violence upon children is an encouraged means of discipline. Under Oklahoma law, "Corporal punishment" means, as defined in 70 O.S. § 13-116, the deliberate infliction of physical pain by hitting, paddling, spanking, slapping, or any other physical force used as a means of discipline. It is estimated that about 130 rural schools across the state still administer corporal punishment to students, usually, but not always, with the permission of a parent or guardian, with just over 60 of those districts still using corporal punishment on children classified in some special needs category, including severe cases. I know one aspect, the belief that this is allowed under scripture, will likely be frustrating for me to hear. Representative Olsen and I strongly disagree about whether the Bible condones the topic, as was highlighted in our OETA conversation. Bishop James Nunn, recently retired from the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference, sums up my views of this topic here: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/05/03/opinion-united-methodists-do-not-condone-corporal-punishment-bishop-says/73517371007/ . The bottom line: using violence to discipline children is not Biblical. I would encourage you to either attend or listen to the study and reach out to your own state senator and representative with your views on the topic. All interim studies are open to the public to attend, along with members of the press who wish to cover the topic. The meeting will be streamed over the internet at https://former.okhouse.gov/Video/Default.aspx should you want to watch but are unable to attend. Select the study by the Rules Committee. For those wishing to attend in person, the study will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in room 206 of the Oklahoma State Capitol at 2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City. Public parking is in the large lot south of the Capitol building. If this topic is submitted as legislation again next year, OICA will keep you informed, and will again support any measure to end the practice of corporal punishment on disabled students in school.

As a longtime advocate for children’s success, I have grown accustomed to conversations from multiple perspectives which shed light on aspects of policy. I have also been the target of frustration from many individuals and organizations who are either adamantly opposed to any change in a policy, or those who are unwilling to consider points of view when it limits their own personal freedoms, even for the greater good. This has increased with the advent of social media. Through time, I have gotten used to it; it is just part of the job when one wants to find solutions to legitimate problems. This was the case when I participated in a legislative interim study examining issues with children “falling through the cracks” of society when they are isolated. Far too many families choose to withdraw their children from public, private, charter, or virtual schools to hide abuse under the guise of home schooling them. While this association is not fair for the home school community to be linked to that, the trauma for these abused children is real. In many circumstances, these children do not receive any type of education and far too often are the victims of abuse, neglect, prostitution, and sometimes even death. Once discovered, those who live will undergo years of therapy and medical services to help them overcome the trauma they have endured. As reported by the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, a 2014 study of child abuse so severe it could be termed child torture found that 47% of victims had been removed from school to be “homeschooled”. In many of these instances, removal from school was typically initiated following the closure of a previously open child welfare investigation. Statistically, the vast majority who choose home school are doing a fine job educating their children, oftentimes in ways that public schools cannot. With a specific focus on a few children, these individuals or cooperatives of parents can accelerate learning and provide unique opportunities for their children to learn. But home schooling is not for everyone. Most families do not have the time or the resources for a parent to dedicate the time needed to do the job properly under the Compulsory Education Act, which dictates that all children must be educated at an appropriate grade level. But what about those children who have no one to watch out for them, to ensure they are not being subjected to the worst that humanity could imagine? One case is that of Athena Brownfield, a child found dead when a child welfare case was opened regarding her sister who was found roaming streets unsupervised. Unfortunately, it is typical for dozens of children to die each year under similar circumstances, and thousands more to fall into the abuse category. When I offered that a dialogue be established to look at concerns and produce solutions, the reaction online was that “rights would be removed” for their own families and that “government is bad.” If not done correctly, I agree policies can be too intrusive, but that usually happens when the conversations I just mentioned do not happen. As an advocacy organization, it is the job of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) to shed light on policies impacting children, all children, not just those under the supervision of the state. We can protect proper home schooling, but also find ways to protect children who are being harmed under those laws. I hope as the conversations continue with rational voices, that more will join civilly and agree to formulate solutions. If not, I am sure that I will read all about it on social media.

Inspiring youth to engage in policy is an important facet of the mission undertaken by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA). Through our more than four decades of work in creating awareness, taking action, and supporting policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children, we have worked to elevate issues impacting young people from birth until they reach adulthood and potential solutions to those problems. One of our favorite endeavors offered toward this is our Kid Governor® program. We serve as the state affiliate for this initiative developed by the Connecticut Democracy Project. Kid Governor® works with local educators in public, charter, and private schools to provide lesson plans to 5th graders about civics, the importance of voting when they are old enough, and how candidates use campaigns to promote issues. The curriculum is approved by the Oklahoma State Department of Education to ensure it is age-appropriate and within lesson plan standards. The program’s goal is to not only educate about civic engagement, but to also conduct an election in which one 5th grader becomes Kid Governor®, elevating awareness in a policy area dear to them. Kid Governor® is designed to be presented in classrooms, but several issues prevented this from happening last year. OICA had almost 30 classrooms registered, but by the time the program was set to kick off in October 2023, each classroom had declined the invitation. Teachers shared with us three main reasons: • Some teachers needed that additional time to make up for learning loss and help the youth pass grade-level standardized tests. • The next issue was classroom overcrowding in that this had created such a nightmare for teachers due to teachers leaving the profession that other teachers were covering double the number of students normally taught. • The final and most troubling reason was fear that his program might somehow alienate some and somehow put the teacher at risk with their job for teaching a program that upset parents, administrators, or other officials due to misunderstanding. This was despite the fact the state Department of Education had approved the curriculum. With that, OICA worked with partners to try a new model for a year as an after-school program so as to not lose another year of providing this material. We have joined Oklahoma 4-H to present this for 4-H members in 4th through 6th grades. We decided to invite students from all three grade levels this year so they can learn and expand the reach for the program, cover those students who missed the opportunity to learn last year, and recruit interest for those who will be 5th graders next year. If you know of a child who is in this grade level, this is an opportunity to get a first-hand look at government, voting and civic participation. During the event to be held on October 26th, 4-H members will also have the opportunity to campaign and elect a 5th grade-level Kid Governor for a year-long term of office. Parents or guardians can register now at okla.st/4h-kidgovernor if their child is already in 4-H. The deadline is October 15 While any Oklahoma student may attend and participate, they must be enrolled in 4-H as a member of a club. If a child wants to sign up for 4-H, please contact your county OSU Extension Office to learn more. For a listing of offices, go to https://extension.okstate.edu/ and learn how to get involved in this youth program. We hope this program will be beneficial, especially as students in this age range certainly are paying attention to politics and issues in the world.

While the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) primarily works with state policies, there are often federal issues which we try to engage our advocates in calling for better opportunities. One of these policies is support for the bipartisan “Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act,” which would invest critical new resources in Title IV-B and provide needed policy improvements. We have joined the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics in calling for congressional support for the enhanced efforts described below. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives, by an overwhelming 405-10 vote approved the bipartisan Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act (H.R. 9076), with all five of Oklahoma’s members of Congress voting “Yea.” The measure now moves across the Capitol to the United States Senate, and our U.S. senators need to hear your support. There are two parts to Title IV-B in federal law. The first, Title IV-B Part 1, Child Welfare Services (CWS) of the Social Security Act, was first established as part of the 1935 Social Security law. Title IV-B part 2, Promoting Safe and Stable Families, started in 1993 as part of a federal budget agreement. It began as Family Preservation and Family Support but was amended to the current name and charged with delivering family preservation programs that sought to prevent foster care placement through intensive focused and limited efforts to help families at a crisis stage. Over the past year, bipartisan leadership in Congress has brought critical attention to the need to reauthorize Title IV-B and better support strong families. The Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act responds to priority areas outlined in consensus recommendations for reauthorizing Title IV-B of the Social Security Act. Family support is the main emphasis of the bill. By boosting federal backing for keeping children with their families in family-based foster care placements as much as possible, the legislation would create a clear commitment in federal law that poverty is not neglect. This underscores the role of family preservation services for families experiencing a crisis related to a lack of resources and focuses on the vital role of strong families in supporting thriving children. The Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act would further bolster support for kinship caregivers. The bill would also authorize discretionary funding for competitive grants for each of the next four years to support programs that sustain meaningful relationships between covered foster children and their incarcerated parents. Further, the legislation would enact policy improvements that complement mental health efforts and support trauma-responsive child welfare systems that promote healing. This bill would expand by $10 million annually the Court Improvement Program, which is the only direct child welfare-related federal funding that state and tribal courts receive to manage children’s cases in court across the nation each year. The bill would put another $10 million annually for Regional Partnership Grants which address the intersection of parental substance use and child welfare involvement. The bill goes further by allocating more funding for tribal sovereign nations, reduces barriers to tribal participation in IV-B, and supports oversight of implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act. We at OICA support the Protecting America’s Children by Strengthening Families Act as an important step toward a modernized child welfare system that better supports children and families. Please reach out to Oklahoma’s two U.S. Senators – Sen. James Lankford and Sen. Markwayne Mullin – to ask them to support this legislation

With National Voter Registration Day occurring on September 17, which is also Constitution Day, there has been much excitement geared around ensuring people are able to cast a vote, not only in the upcoming General Election on November 5, but also for every subsequent election held.  Unfortunately, Oklahoma’s voter turnout has been dismal the past several elections, ranking anywhere from 48th to 50th among states for percentage of voters submitting a ballot. Some might ask, “What does this have to do with child advocacy?” When advocates work through the different levels of government, the officials who have been selected by this minority of registered voters are the ones who are deciding the policies. I have been very fortunate to work with some great elected officials, often surprising me with just how solidly they have supported youth issues. One of the parts of my job at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) that I most enjoy is getting to work with officials to shape solutions to benefit Oklahoma’s children. Many officials have truly stepped up in times of need to provide better opportunities for youth. Voting has not always been accessible to all Americans. White, property-owning males were the first legal voters in our newly formed nation. Then, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed by Congress on February 26, 1869, and ratified by the states on February 3, 1870, granted Black American men the right to vote. It took nearly 50 years, but Congress passed on June 4, 1919, and the states ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Then, on June 2, 1924, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, granting citizenship to all Indigenous Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law. Until 1957, some states barred Indigenous Americans from voting. The Voting Rights Act of 1965, extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the right to vote and authorized federal supervision of voter registration where necessary. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the act involving federal oversight of voting rules in nine states with histories of discrimination. As 2024 is the 100th anniversary of federal voting rights for Indigenous Americans, OICA is working on a voter awareness project which will impact young Oklahomans. With permission from the Ben Harjo estate, we are using his “Warriors of Fire” print as the basis for a poster for each high school in Oklahoma, including the link for registering to vote online. Ben was a personal friend and an avid voter, so his wife Barbara loved the idea of using this to encourage people to register. Thanks to generous support from the Cherokee Nation, we have the initial funding raised for the printing. If you would like to assist with this effort, you can go to oica.org to make a donation; for each $100 donated, the donor will receive a copy of the poster. Additionally, OICA this week will kick off our “Chalk the Vote” efforts for educators in the upcoming General Election. We have gotten off to a late start with some staff changes in our office, so I am looking forward to announcing our new team members in a column soon. I also want to note that on Monday, I celebrated my eighth anniversary working for OICA, and I was honored to attend the 94th birthday celebration of Melvin Moran on Saturday. We share September 18th as a birthday, but I am a few years behind him. Happy birthday, Melvin!

We are just about one week away from National Voter Registration Day, which is celebrated on September 17. Voting is regarded as one of our Constitutional rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. It is the process which cumulatively allows us to select those who will represent us in elective office and to determine certain policies put before us on the ballot. In Oklahoma, many organizations have chosen to promote nonpartisan voter awareness and registration. The Oklahoma Libraries Association (OLA) and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL), along with the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma (LVW), have put together tool kits to help groups promote the need to register and the right to vote. You can get the OLA/ODL toolkit at https://www.oklibs.org/news/681453/ODL-and-OLA-Partner-to-Equip-OK-Libraries-for-Voter-Registration-Drives.htm . The LVW link is https://my.lwv.org/league-women-voters-oklahoma . Additionally, the Oklahoma Academy is dedicating their upcoming Town Hall to increasing voter turnout, and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) operates Chalk the Vote, an effort to increase teacher turnout in voting. This can be found on OICA’s social media. If you are not already registered, applications can be accepted at any time but must be received at least 25 days prior to an election to cast your vote. You can go to https://vote.gov/register/oklahoma to confirm your registration, but note, it is a felony to alter voter information to prevent someone from voting. One opportunity presented to those who are allowed to register to vote is to sign up online. Go to https://oklahoma.gov/elections/ovp.html to register . All Voter Registration Applications – including those submitted online – are reviewed and manually processed by the County Election Board prior to approval. Once an application has been approved, the voter will receive by mail a Voter ID card confirming the registration, which is an allowable identification for use at polls. If an application is unable to be approved, the County Election Board will notify the applicant by mail. Additionally, I want to highlight some voting rights extended to Oklahomans. Pre-registration – Persons who are at least 17½ years old may pre-register to vote in Oklahoma if they meet all eligibility requirements but cannot vote until they turn 18 years old. This ensures that the Constitutional right to vote is allowed to those who will turn 18 on or right before Election Day. Provisional voting – Any voter whose name does not appear in the precinct registry, does not show a valid ID, believes an error has been made regarding his or her party affiliation (for a primary election or subsequent runoff), or for other reasons allowed by law, may cast a provisional ballot. This is often the case with a person changing their name on a driver’s license but not updating the voter registration to reflect the new name. Once the verification occurs on the ability of the person to legally vote in the precinct where the ballot was cast, the vote will be added to each race total. In Oklahoma, provisional ballots are not counted if the voter casts a ballot in an incorrect precinct. Felony conviction – A person convicted of a felony may register to vote when he or she has fully served his or her sentence of court-mandated calendar days, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court. A convicted felon who has been pardoned may register once a pardon has become official. Questions regarding voter registration should be directed to your County Election Board, or the State Election Board at (405) 521-2391. I hope these tips will assist you with ensuring that you are registered and have the right to cast your vote on November 5 and every election following.

It is back to school time for children of all ages across the United States. As children prepare for their academic year, one critical aspect is reading literacy. Reading is the fundamental key to academic and career success. In studies delivered by the National Literacy Institute, on average, 79 percent of U.S. adults nationwide are literate, while 21 percent of adults in the US are considered illiterate. 54 percent of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20 percent are below 5th-grade level). Low levels of literacy cost the US up to $2.2 trillion per year in reduced productivity. Different factors contribute to this metric, but certainly one gauge is our graduation rate. According to US News and World Report, in 2023 the average state graduation rate across 49 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. (with Oklahoma being the only state to not submit data that year) was 79 percent in reviewing the 2021-2022 academic year, up two percentage points from the year prior. Additionally, in 2022, data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card,” showed that only 33% of fourth graders and 31% of eighth graders scored at or above grade level in reading, with much of that learning loss coming from pandemic era school lessons taught virtually. When do children usually learn to read? There is no single answer to this question, as reading skills can vary from child-to-child. However, according to the National Reading Panel (NRP), most children start reading at around 6 to 7 years old, while some children learn as early as 4 to 5 years old. Children as early as two years old have incredible brains that allow them to learn more and learn faster than they can when they are older, so reading to them begins this process at that earlier age. I was thrilled to hear a Rotary program presented by an OKC Metro school superintendent highlighting her experiences and expectations for the school year with the issues facing children on the northeast side of the city, including early childhood literacy. She shared a sign-chart from several years ago showing how few of her three-year-old students were able to write their names at the beginning of school compared to the end gains based on the support from the teachers. Now, imagine the jumpstart to learning if these students came to school knowing simply how to properly write their own names, and it is not isolated with just this school. We expect much from students in school, but a great deal of their success depends on how much they learn at home. Parents who read to their children and provide learning opportunities are increasing the odds of preparing them for success in life. Beyond that, we as a society also have grown to expect so much more out of our schools above educational attainment. A successful program offered by the state is placing social workers into school sites to assist with helping children and their families attain success through connecting access to programs which provide support systems, such as SNAP (food), help in filling out applications for driver’s licenses and other needed government documents, and even assisting with locating jobs.  If parents must spend less time trying to find ways to survive, they have more time to spend with their children, including reading to them. This helps break the cycle of illiteracy and provides a foundation for future success for graduation rates and educational attainment for children, and a better foundation of success for our entire nation.