For the Children:
The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) exists to help improve conditions for children and to promote their well-being. It is a broad mission, which means we are active on many fronts: educating the public and lawmakers about our issues, helping to craft policy solutions and push legislation, training advocates, and in some cases (like OKFoster Wishes, our holiday giftdrive for foster kids), directly providing services and resources to children.
Sometimes, however, our role is less direct, although just as rewarding. There are many individuals in the state outside of OICA who are doing excellent work on behalf of children, and we think part of our job is to shine a light on that work. At our Fall Forum, held earlier this month, we did just that by presenting two awards to individuals whose efforts on behalf of children are inspiring.
The first award we handed out was the Laura Choate Resilience Award. For those of you who do not know her story, Laura was a child in Oklahoma’s juvenile justice systemin the late 1970s. Like many children in her position, she was physically abused within that system and left traumatized. But Laura persevered, becoming a plaintiff in the “Terry D.” lawsuit against the state which brought to light widespread abuses and helped to transform and dramatically improve conditions for children in state custody. She continues to be a passionate advocate for children to this day.
The Laura Choate Resilience Award is given to someone who endures trauma as a child but who rises above that trauma to make a positive impact for Oklahoma’s children. The OICA selection committee was proud to give this award to Joyce Rock, a specialist with the Oklahoma State Department of Education who found herself in a generational cycle of poverty, becoming pregnant as a teenager. She had someone believe in her and encourage her, which led her to become a teacher. She then went on to work for the state in some of the most high-risk school districts to become that a role model for countless young Oklahomans. We are inspired by her story and proud to highlight her achievements.
Our next award was established to recognize an unsung hero in child advocacy. The Steven A. Novick Advocacy Award was created to highlight the work of someone who dedicates their life to making the lives of children better. Mr. Novick was the attorney who pushed forward with the “Terry D” Lawsuit in which Laura Choate was a plaintiff. His legal success restructured how state government treated justice-involved youth.
OICA was honored to present the Stephen A. Novick Advocacy Award to Martha Cordell, a supporter of Tulsa Lawyers for Children. In addition to representing abused children, she supported a two-year research project to identify how to improve legal representation for children in foster care. We are very grateful to Martha for her dedication to Oklahoma’s children.
Next week, I will share with you the winners of the Melvin and Jasmine Moran Kidizenship Award. This award, created as a way to recognize the dedication of young Oklahomans who help other young Oklahomans, carries on in the tradition of the Kids Who Care Award, presented by KOCO Channel 5 and the Junior League of Oklahoma City. Our goal is to highlight the great work done by those under the age of 18 to make our state a better place.
There are many ways to help children, but one of them is to simply recognize and reward the good work being done on their behalf. Our hope at OICA is that by bringing attention to these dedicated and selfless individuals we are able to inspire others to follow in their footsteps and accomplish great things on behalf of Oklahoma’s kids.