A. There is hereby created a State Postadjudication Review Advisory Board which shall meet at least twice each calendar year. The Advisory Board shall have the duty of overseeing the implementation of the state postadjudication review program in coordination with the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth.

B. The Advisory Board shall consist of twenty-one (21) members appointed by the Governor as follows:

1. Eight of the members shall be members of the various review boards throughout the state;

2. Five of the members shall be judges of the district court;

3. Five of the members shall represent the general public and may be foster parents;

4. One of the members appointed after the effective date of this act shall be a foster parent representing foster parents who have a current contract with the Department of Human Services to provide foster care services;

5. One of the members appointed after the effective date of this act shall be a foster parent representing child-placing agencies which have current contracts with the Department to provide foster care services; and

6. One of the members appointed after the effective date of this act shall be a foster parent nominated by any local or statewide foster parent association.

The members shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The administrative heads of the divisions which have foster care responsibilities within the Department of Human Services and the Office of Juvenile Affairs or their designees shall serve as ex officio members of the Board.

C. The Director of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth shall be the clerk of the Advisory Board.

The Advisory Board shall have the duty to:

1. Assist in the training of the members of the review boards;

2. Serve, in coordination with the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, as a clearinghouse for reports and information concerning the foster care review program and the review boards as they relate to foster care;

3. Make recommendations to the courts, the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, the Governor, the Legislature, the Department of Human Services, the Office of Juvenile Affairs, and other state agencies providing services to children regarding proposed statutory revisions, and amendments to court rules and procedures, and review and make recommendations on permanency planning, foster care and child welfare service delivery policies, guidelines, and procedures;

4. Work with both public and private agencies concerned with foster care and adoption exchanges to inform the public of the need for temporary and permanent homes and other services needed by deprived children; and

5. Specifically:

a.identify, analyze, and recommend solutions to any issue concerning child welfare and foster care services within the child welfare delivery system,

b.participate in the statewide planning and promotion of foster parent involvement in local planning for child welfare services, and

c.develop recommendations concerning foster care training to improve the quality of foster care services.

D. The State Postadjudication Review Advisory Board may designate multidisciplinary committees on the local level to act as advocates for foster parents in order to assist in the resolution of specific complaints concerning foster care and to help facilitate the relationship between the Department of Human Services, the Office of Juvenile Affairs, child-placing agencies, and the foster parents.

E. The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, with the assistance of the State Postadjudication Review Advisory Board, shall be responsible for developing and administering training procedures and rules for the administration of the state postadjudication review board system.

F. The State Postadjudication Review Advisory Board shall submit a report of the activities of the review boards, including the findings and recommendations of such review boards, to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth on or before May 1 of each year.

G. The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth shall incorporate, as appropriate, the findings and recommendations of the review boards in the annual report required by Section 601.9 of this title.

Added by Laws 1983, c. 113, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 1983. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 63, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1986; Laws 1991, c. 296, § 23, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Laws 1993, c. 72, § 4, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 1997, c. 389, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1997; Laws 1998, c. 364, § 6, emerg. eff. June 8, 1998; Laws 2002, c. 445, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2002.