State PARP reports volunteer coverage gaps, offers recommendations to shorten foster-care timelines

Keith Pirtle, program manager for Oklahoma's Post Adjudication Review Boards (PARP), briefed commissioners on PARP operations, volunteer reach and a set of recommendations intended to improve oversight and timeliness in the juvenile court child-welfare system.

Pirtle described PARP as a largely volunteer program that reviews deprived-juvenile cases and makes recommendations to presiding judges. The program reported roughly 279 volunteers and more than 6,500 volunteer hours in calendar year 2022, and staff said local boards reviewed more than 2,000 cases statewide. PARP staff recently introduced an online recommendation database that allows volunteer reviewers to record and transmit recommendations electronically to judges and court clerks.

State PARP offered a package of recommendations to the commission, including: a name change to "Citizen Review Boards for Children in Foster Care" to improve public understanding; removing a parent's jury-trial right in termination cases (a matter that generated significant discussion and that intersected with SB706 enacted language about jury-trial scheduling); improving accountability and quality of legal representation for children and parents; reducing time to initiate and improve the quality of mental-health services for families involved in child welfare; and exploring limited exemptions from the Open Meetings Act for local board case-review activities to reduce training burdens and administrative constraints.

Commissioners asked about volunteer recruitment and sustaining local boards after COVID-related attrition; PARP staff described recent new-board starts and recruitment strategies including use of the care portal and local outreach.

Source: PARP presentation and State PARP recommendations, June 21 meeting packet and discussion.