OKLAHOMA CITY (April 1, 2009) – State lawmakers voted today to require the Department of Human Services to provide greater information on unsuccessful adoptions.

Senate Bill 794, by state Sen. Clark Jolley and state Rep. Jason Murphey, would require DHS to publish a report on unsuccessful adoptions similar to its public reports on successful adoptions.

"This legislation would provide greater transparency and help policymakers determine the quality of DHS work in these cases," said Murphey, R-Guthrie. "When the state fails a child, it is important we understand why the adoption was unsuccessful and use that information to improve the process and outcomes."

Officials with Peppers Ranch, an organization located in Guthrie that cares for boys in foster care, requested the law after seeing more children returning to the system after an unsuccessful adoption.

After Senate Bill 794 passed out of a House committee, DHS officials indicated that only two adoptions were dissolved in 2007.

That statistic contradicted the reports of individuals actually working within the system. Murphey believes the agency is using a very restrictive definition of "dissolved adoption" that leads to underreporting.

As a result, he amended Senate Bill 794 today to require DHS to report on all adoptions that dissolve after the adoption is finalized and prior to the time the child reaches 18 years of age.

"Unfortunately, state agencies have been known to rig the system to mask problems," Murphey said. "For example, the Tulsa World recently discovered the state Department of Education was not reporting middle-school dropouts and instead classifying those kids as being ‘truant’ for four to six years. There was clearly a difference between what DHS was telling us and what the front-line workers were seeing, so I felt we needed to spell out the definition of a failed adoption."

Senate Bill 794 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a 90-9 vote. It now returns to the Senate.