Building a Top 10 State: ORU and Oklahoma’s DHS Discuss Partnership
Becoming a Top 10 state . . . that’s the direction for Oklahoma, a goal laid out by Governor Kevin Stitt. And it’s a goal that ORU wants to contribute to not just as a top university but as a partner with the state. Last week, this partnership took another step forward when ORU faculty and staff met with Justin Brown, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Human Services (OKDHS).
“This conversation began last month when I was in Oklahoma City,” said Stacey Blaylock, Director of ORU’s Social Work Program. “Initially, Secretary Brown and I were discussing our collaboration with social work. And as we began to talk a little bit further, we came realize there’s a need that goes beyond just social workers in the OKDHS. That’s why we came together today to collaborate and brainstorm.”
OKDHS is Oklahoma’s largest agency by workforce, employing 6,200 staff members who support multiple program divisions. These programs include child welfare, adult and family services, child support, child care services, developmental disabilities services, and aging services. To help guide these various divisions, OKDHS has developed a list of “True North” principles that direct the divisions in their work and support their partnership collaborations.
“We as an agency,” Secretary Brown said, “also came up with 8 Executive Leadership True North Strategies. Every conversation we have, every proposal or presentation that comes to our agency, has has to tie back to one of the Executive True Norths or one of the Divisional True Norths. We don’t do anything that doesn’t align with a guiding philosophy.”
One of these Executive True Norths is to become the largest ever hope-centered organization. Secretary Brown believes that the science of hope is critical to overcoming trauma and adversity, and he underscored hope as an important driver for change in Oklahoma.
“We are all just a product of the experiences we’ve had in our lives,” Secretary Brown said, “whether those are good experiences or bad experiences. Those experiences affect our physiology and our actual bodies. We just came from north Tulsa where there’s an 11-year shorter life span than those living in south Tulsa. We believe raising hope scores are the antidote.”
Raising hope in the community aligns with the educational mission at ORU, where Spirit-empowered leaders are developed to impact the world. At ORU, “the world” is both international and local. Internationally, Missions students are trained to bring hope and service to multiple countries across the globe. And locally, ORU students participate in outreach programs, partnering with area non-profits to work with children, serve the homeless, and connect with adults in need.
“One thing is unanimous; our world needs hope,” said ORU President Dr. William M. Wilson. “Today, you find a world filled with darkness and despair. Our students are called to bring a different voice and a different attitude to the world. They’re called to be world-changers by bringing a message of hope to this generation.”
With OKDHS serving nearly 1.5 million residents, Secretary Brown noted ORU’s unprecedented opportunity to engage in Oklahoma’s future prosperity. Looking toward to this future, ORU and OKDHS explored partnership ideas that included burn out prevention, agency turnover, and dealing with tough life issues.
“We’re aware of the challenges that OKDHS is facing,” said Dr. Randall Feller, ORU Senior Professor of Psychology. “And our students would love to be a part of the process that sees people step up in a way that’s helpful for the community. I applaud OKDHS for integrating hope into their agency. This will be a great partnership going forward because our culture at ORU is a culture of hope and a culture of faith and a culture of belief.”