DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit

DHS spending millions to defend itself in lawsuit

By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2010 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 4/18/2010 4:36 AM

Related Story: Group suing DHS says state 'resistant'
The state Department of Human Services has spent about $2.4 million since April 2008 on attorneys to defend it in a federal class-action lawsuit alleging abusive conditions in the state foster-care system, according to records reviewed by the Tulsa World.

The suit, filed in February 2008 in federal court in Tulsa, accuses the state of placing foster children in harm's way because of deficiencies in the system such as too many cases per worker, not enough home visits, multiple placements and not enough training for foster parents.

The Commission for Human Services, which oversees DHS, will consider on April 27 a plan to furlough employees four hours a week for 46 weeks beginning in July as a way to cut $30 million from the budget for the next fiscal year. The plan would shift employees to a four-day workweek.

DHS Director Howard Hendrick said the agency recognizes the budget crisis, but there is no choice but to defend the lawsuit.

"The services we deliver to children in out-of-home care do not violate the constitutional rights of the children for whom we care," Hendrick said in an e-mail statement from the public information office.

Hendrick stated that more than 90 percent of foster children receive a monthly visit

from their caseworkers, and the overall number of children in foster homes has been reduced by 30 percent in the past three years.

"We have the fewest number of children in care in more than a decade," Hendrick said. "We have the most tenured staff we have had in years, and we have the most manageable caseloads in years. We are prepared to defend the excellent work our staff does every day."

The Human Services Commission never took a formal vote on hiring outside attorneys to defend the federal lawsuit, but commissioners receive updates in executive session periodically, according to agency spokeswoman Beth Scott.

The contract for services was signed by Hendrick in March 2008. It states the agency would be billed on a monthly basis and included a list of attorneys with hourly rates ranging from $180 to $200 an hour.

In a July 2008 application to the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office for approval to hire an outside attorney, DHS stated the anticipated costs had "too many variables to make an estimate." The Attorney General's Office gave the approval.

DHS set aside $500,000 in its 2009 budget and later amended that to $800,000, according to the application records.

The agency gave its reason for needing outside attorneys as a "lack of resources." While in-house counsel will assist, the agency said it will "need the resources available from a large firm with experienced counsel in this type of major litigation."

Invoices submitted by the Tulsa-based legal firm Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbison and Lewis show expenditures for 13,744 hours of work for $2.5 million, but "professional courtesy discounts" of $313,000 bring the cost down.

About $178,000 is listed as "other" expenses and $37,300 for services from a copy shop for processing e-mail exchanges between DHS workers. DHS said the "other" expenditures are not an open record but would include consultants, experts, extensive discovery and reproducing documents, Scott stated in an e-mail.

"The 'other' category is privileged because disclosing those details would jeopardize the defense of the lawsuit," Scott stated.

Scott said agency officials considered the trial and appellate experiences of attorneys in the firm before deciding on the contract.

The attorneys appearing in court for DHS are Bob Nance, who has served as an assistant attorney general and argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Don Bingham.

The firm's contract will likely be renewed, Scott said.

Monthly invoices range from $132,000 in April 2009 to about $40,000 in July 2008.

Children's Rights founder and Executive Director Marcia Robinson Lowry has been representing the plaintiffs in court with the assistance of Tulsa attorney Frederic Dorwart.

Also being listed at some point as providing support for the plaintiffs are the Oklahoma firms of Seymour & Graham; Doerner, Saunders, Daniel & Anderson; Day, Edwards, Propester & Christensen; and the international law firm Kaye Scholer.

The parties are starting the process of exchanging evidence, and the trial is expected to begin in 2011.

Ginnie Graham 581-8376
Ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
By GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer

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