Oklahoma lawyers are invited to experience the opportunity of investing in a dream — the dream for thousands of Oklahoma children to have a safer and happier childhood. All you need to do to invest in the dreams of children in the Oklahoma foster care system is to become a Fellow of the Oklahoma Bar Foundation. Every year the OBF provides funds to organizations dedicated to helping these children realize their dreams, and your help is needed.

Oklahoma Lawyers for Children (“OLFC”) coordinates volunteer lawyers in our state’s largest urban area, where 4,200 children are in foster care in Oklahoma County alone. In 2007, the Oklahoma Bar Foundation granted $25,000 to OLFC to establish a law-student intern program and to help with maintenance of ongoing programs. OLFC is dedicated to providing excellent and free legal representation to every child they represent. All children taken into protective custody in Oklahoma County are represented by OLFC volunteer lawyers in daily show cause emergency hearings, and more than 15,000 children have been represented by OLFC in such hearings since 2000. OLFC volunteer attorneys often go on to represent these same children throughout their entire proceedings in juvenile court, providing a consistent and reassuring presence in an unfamiliar and often frightening situation. Indeed, the outcomes of these proceedings are critical to the children — they dictate where each child will be placed — whether with a parent, another family member, or in foster care. OLFC further assists families in reunification plans, guardianships, and adoptions, as well as other proceedings in juvenile court.

The foundation also granted $69,365 in 2007 to Tulsa Lawyers for Children (“TLC”) for increased staff and materials. TLC is also dedicated to providing excellent representation to children in the foster care system in Tulsa County, where the number of children in foster care reached 1,512 as of April 30, 2008.

With OBF funding, OLFC and TLC have joined forces to draft a Volunteer Lawyers Handbook, which will enable the volunteer lawyers to better navigate through the particular court proceedings involved in juvenile law.  Please consider investing in a child’s dream today by becoming an OBF Fellow, or upgrading to a Sustaining Fellow or Benefactor Fellow.

The Oklahoma CASA State Training Conference, held April 3-4 in Oklahoma City, recently provided training for more than 250 Court Appointed Special Advocates for children, including volunteers, staff members and others who are dedicated to the protection of children.

CASA volunteers are required to complete 12 hours of mandatory training each year that can be fulfilled at this conference. The OBF awarded $15,000 to CASA in 2007 to help underwrite the costs of the program, where caring individuals from all across the state learn together and inspire each other. The conference focused on the multi-faceted responsibilities CASA volunteers have as they perform their duties as the “eyes and ears of the court,” addressing topics such as CASA in the courtroom, CASA relations with DHS, educational advocacy and more.

Keynote speaker Josh Shipp, who was raised in the foster care system, brought a unique perspective to attendees with his message of “Don’t Be Average.” Mr. Shipp overcame significant challenges when he was raised as a child in the Oklahoma foster care system, and has gone on to become a national speaker who inspires, challenges and entertains; attendees found themselves laughing one moment and wiping away tears the next.

Please consider becoming an OBF Fellow and investing in the dreams of those thousands of Oklahoma children in the foster care system who face incredible challenges early in their lives. To become a Fellow, simply invest the nominal amount of $100 per year over the next 10 years in the Fellows Program. Your tax-deductible contribution amounts to less than $10 per month. Special discounts are offered to newer lawyers and are detailed on the enrollment form that follows. It’s just that simple … the return is unlimited, and the benefits are priceless.

In April 1997, Don Nicholson II and D. Kent Meyers, longtime friends and Oklahoma City Lawyers, participated in an OBA Child Watch Tour. Mr. Nicholson had first been introduced to the juvenile system in 1995 when he volunteered for CASA. As a CASA volunteer, he met two little girls who had been placed in foster care after their mother (or her live-in boyfriend) had thrown the youngest girl into the wall, causing brain damage. The girl was only 8 weeks old; her sister was two years old. The mother wanted the children back, which the state was considering, but Nicholson decided to dig into the case a little more. He discovered in the court files, that five years earlier in the same court, three sons had been removed from this mother’s care. Nicholson also found that the mother had given birth to another child, a baby girl, shortly before that trial. During the course of that trial involving the three boys, jurors asked if they could terminate the parental rights as to the fourth child, but were told no, because that child was not a part of the case. Jurors terminated the parental rights of the mother as to the three older boys, but six weeks later, their younger sister was dead. The mother had apparently left her outside overnight.

After the earlier case was discovered, the mother gave up her rights to the two little girls and both were adopted by a loving family. Nicholson’s experiences as a CASA volunteer led to realization of problems of an over-extended juvenile system. Following the Child Watch Tour in 1997, Nicholson and Meyers decided to do something, and Oklahoma Lawyers for Children was formed. OLFC is a non-profit organization driven by passionate and dedicated volunteers who seek to make a difference in the life of a child, one child at a time.

CASA volunteer Buddy Faye Foster is anything but average. In her late 60s, Buddy has accomplished a great deal since becoming a CASA volunteer in 1995. Buddy had already raised her children as a single mom and worked for Boeing on the Saturn 5 project. However, when Buddy lost her 22 year old son while he was serving in the military, it sent her into a deep cycle of grief. During that time, Buddy picked up a magazine and read about the National CASA mission and organization. She felt prompted that CASA work might be something she could do. When she read in a local newspaper that the Oklahoma CASA organization was looking for volunteers, she called and persuaded the local CASA director to let her attend the training classes starting the following Monday, even though she hadn’t completed the background check, the initial interview or provided references. Buddy’s references and background check were fine and Buddy has been going strong as a CASA volunteer ever since.

Buddy credits being a CASA volunteer to building a bridge of service work that lead her to becoming the first executive director of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children. She currently is chair of the Oklahoma Post Adjudication Review Board, in addition to other committees and groups. Buddy comes to the annual Oklahoma CASA conference every year because, “I always get new information on programs that help in my work.” Also, networking and talking with other CASA volunteers in the state help remind Buddy that there are hundreds of success stories here where one person can turn lives around. Buddy knows she has made a difference, “You can do a lot. I get back way more than I ever give. Sometimes someone will walk up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘You don’t remember me, but you helped get an order with the court so I could get my grandkids.’” That, in Buddy’s opinion, is what Josh Shipp spoke about at the CASA State Conference – don’t be average.

2008 Oklahoma CASA Association Awards of Excellence winners from left to right: Carmen Miller, Program Director of the Year; Sue Horrocks, Board Member of the Year; Juanita Pollard, Lela Roddy Award; Michael Kulling, Attorney of the Year; Oklahoma CASA Association Executive Director Anna Naukam; Gale and John Flores, Child Advocate of the Year; Tanya Garrett, Volunteer Coordinator of the Year; the Hon. Richard Woolery, Judge of the Year; and Heather Hacker, Caseworker of the Year, and Oklahoma Lt. Governor Jari Askins.