Tricia Howell - Enhanced Foster Care Programs and Strengthening Families

08/10/2025 27 min

Listen "Tricia Howell - Enhanced Foster Care Programs and Strengthening Families"

Episode Synopsis

Dr. Deb and Kelly are joined by Tricia Howell, an expert and former Oklahoma Director of Child Welfare, to talk about enhanced foster care programs, family support and foster care prevention. Learn about how this approach helped Oklahoma improve its system and successfully exit a lawsuit like those facing many foster care systems across the country.Tricia is a strategic expert in large-scale program adoption, being nationally recognized for implementing programs that result in lasting system improvements and successful lawsuit exit. Throughout her career, she designed and launched innovative foster care recruitment and support solutions, strengthened post-adoption clinical services, improved licensing timelines, and advanced interagency coordination across Medicaid, behavioral health, and child welfare systems. Before joining HSG, Tricia spent nearly 40 years in child welfare and therapeutic foster care, including serving as the Child Welfare Director for the state of Oklahoma.Human Services Change Makers is a podcast by Human Services Group. For more information about HSG, or to get in touch, go to https://www.humanservicesgroup.com, or email Deb Shropshire ([email protected]) or Kelly Harder ([email protected]).