Report: Tulsa Children's Shelter Often Exceeds Capacity Limit

Friday, December 22nd 2006, 9:49 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Inspection reports of an emergency shelter for abused and neglected children in Tulsa show it consistently takes in more children than it is licensed to handle, according to a published report.

The Laura Dester shelter in Tulsa serves as a temporary home for children removed from their homes because of suspected abuse or neglect. A Department of Human Services policy says children younger than 5 should be at the shelter no longer than 24 hours, and older children should be placed in foster homes within a few days.

But often there are so many children coming into the system, the department is forced to keep children at the shelter longer than the policy allows, and must take in more children than allowed under shelter capacity limitations, officials said.

A 3-month-old boy, Samuel Barber, died earlier this month at a similar shelter, the Pauline E. Mayer shelter in Oklahoma City, after he was taken into state custody.

Neglect charges were filed this week against Barber's mother, grandmother and uncle. An investigation into the death is ongoing.

Analysis of the Oklahoma City shelter's inspection reports by The Oklahoman showed that the shelter was below capacity on the day Samuel died.

DHS spokesman Dustin Pyeatt said the Tulsa shelter was over capacity on 325 days in the 2006 fiscal year. Dec. 14, the most recent inspection, there were 60 children at the shelter. The licensed capacity, set by the department's licensing division, is 38.

``The problem is not that the shelter is not big enough, it is that too many kids are coming into the system,'' Pyeatt said.

Shelter workers have been requesting an increase in capacity since 2005, the reports show. In September 2005, an inspection report showed 58 children at the shelter, 20 under the age of 2.

The report said the staff-to-child ratio was within licensing requirements and the shelter has three buildings with more than 4,000 square feet of sleeping space.

``There are enough toilets, sinks and showers to accommodate 78 children, however, the licensed capacity remains at 38 children,'' the September report states.

In the report, the field representative conducting the inspection suggests an increase in capacity. But Pyeatt said increasing capacity may not be in the best interests of the children staying at the shelter.

In fiscal 2006, 1,580 children stayed at the shelter. This year, the total already is about 10 children ahead of the count last year, Pyeatt said.