It is hard to believe that 2025 has come to an end. For those of us at the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA), I must say that our work felt incredibly important this year with addressing issues at the local, state and federal levels for child well-being.

There were some big wins and a few disappointing losses, but the mission to elevate support for children will carry on into the new year.

For a short recap of the year, our work at the State Capitol led to legislation to end the practice of corporal punishment by school employees used on children who face special needs classified under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This legislation took three years to make it into law, and we are very grateful for those lawmakers who voted for this legislation (63 for, 35 against in the House of Representatives and 31 for and 16 opposed in the Senate).

As you can see, this was not an easy bill to see become law, and I hope this paints a clear picture of why OICA is needed to promote policies which support the health, safety and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.

Additionally, we worked with counterpart organizations across the nation to raise awareness at the federal level regarding the harm which would come from seeing children lose access to SNAP benefits for food, health insurance for children and the potential danger of eliminating protections for children under IDEA with the significant downsizing of the United States Department of Education before states could adjust to maintaining greater oversight.

With the end of the previous federal shutdown, but with the next potential one looming on Jan. 30, 2026, it is imperative that individuals continue to raise concerns with federal policymakers regarding programs which impact children.

We also saw success with projects which we undertook this past year. OICA has been working to complete multiple tasks in conjunction with our mission, and I am pleased to report on a few of those to you.

I want to begin by thanking AT&T for the donation of fifty Chromebooks for youth participating in our Oklahoma’s Kid Governor program. Children from participating communities, including Gore, Putnam City, Lawton, Valliant, Rush Springs, Ardmore and several others, received these devices, which include the Kid Governor officers who were elected from 2025 and 2026.

We greatly appreciate AT&T’s partnership with us to help provide opportunities for these young learners. The lesson plans provided for teachers in public, private and home school settings around the state allow a greater, more in-depth understanding of civics, voting and the importance for young people to use their voices. These devices will provide even more opportunities for those who received them.

I also would like to thank the generous donors who helped support the Holiday Hope initiative led by Oklahoma Human Services (OHS) through our OK Foster Wishes drive. We collected enough funds to provide 125 gift cards of $100 each for OHS to distribute to teens in foster care. The foster families will use these to help purchase gifts for the youth tied to the holiday the child celebrates or to be given directly to the teens. Those of you who supported this effort made certain that child had a brighter holiday during this traumatic time.

Our leadership program, the Advocacy Boot Camp (ABC), saw Class I complete their work and Class II finish the first half of their program, and we are thrilled with the participants from both classes. We hope to expand this to include a summer program for students completing their sophomore year. Please stay tuned for more information.

While it was a busy year, 2026 will likely be more so. Thank you for reading this weekly column in your local newspapers, and to the editors/publishers who run it. If you ever have any questions or suggestions, please drop a note to info@oica.org for us.

About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”