DHS Workers Speak Out On Agency

Most of the complaints you hear about the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, come from people who've been on the receiving end of the department's practices.  But, the complaints you're about to hear come from a completely different source.  In a News On 6 Investigation, three caseworkers risk their jobs to help us remove the cloak of secrecy surrounding DHS.  News On 6 anchor Terry Hood reports we can't tell you who they are, but we feel it's still important to tell their story.

"Everything I've heard for years is ‘it's the worker's fault.'  The worker gets the blame.  They're on the front line, but it's their fault.  I want the workers to be heard," said one DHS worker.

The DHS workers interviewed by The News On 6 are fed up.  Fed up with the bad press their profession has been getting, fed up with parents who don't make their own kids a priority, and fed up with their management.  They want to tell their story, because as stressful and low-paying as their jobs are, they still love them.

"No one knows about all the hours and hours and hours that we work and all the kids that are saved," said a DHS worker.

They acknowledge there are some bad caseworkers in DHS, but they say the vast majority really does care about children.  They tell The News On 6 that's the reason they do what they do, and will even risk their lives doing it.

"You go into this family's castle, and you start questioning their parenting practices.  What we do is dangerous," said one DHS worker.

They say they can live with the physical risks, the low pay or even the lack of respect that comes with the job.  But, the one issue that's critical, they say, is not enough workers on the front line.  They blame management for not understanding priorities.

"We have a certain, um, just a limited amount of time to complete the work that we have regardless of whether there's, continues to be issues in the home or not.  Um, the main focus is getting the work completed," said one DHS worker.

According to the workers, DHS managers at the county and state levels are too concerned with arbitrary deadlines.

Each task, no matter how small or large, is assigned a specific time limit, making it impossible for the employees to tailor their work to fit each individual family, even a family in crisis.

"DHS is assigned investigations to clean up something that is absolutely broken.  It's taken years to deteriorate, and we're given a very minimal amount of time to help correct those conditions and ensure the safety of the children," said one DHS worker.

Another big complaint is a misperception about what DHS caseworkers can and cannot do.

"We do not take kids into custody.  It's uh, it's a huge misunderstanding of what we do.  We have no legal authority to take children.  All we can do is make a recommendation to a district attorney's office," said one DHS worker.

They point out that any recommendation they make must be based on evidence gathered by members of law enforcement.  If there's not enough evidence to make an arrest, then DHS caseworkers probably don't have enough evidence to recommend a child be removed from a home.

In spite of the rules and the crushing caseloads, they say no caseworker would ever turn away from a child believed to be at risk.

"We are, we are your brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, doing this job.   We are not going to leave a kid who is in danger in a home without putting something there.  If, we're just not going to do that," said one DHS worker.

These workers tell us they don't care what happens to DHS, whether it's broken up into smaller pieces or left the way it is. What matters to them is being able to protect the children they see every day.

"The differences that we are able to make as front-line workers, it's amazing. Those are the stories you're never going to hear about," said one DHS worker.

The workers have an interesting take on the confidentiality laws that cover much of the work done by DHS.

They wish there were some way to publicize the success stories, while at the same time protecting the identities of families who are helped by the agency.  They also hope that by speaking out, they'll inspire other DHS workers to share their stories.