Whitney Bryen

Child-welfare worker Kaitlin Davis reads to foster children who are among her cases.

Oklahoma’s foster family shortage forces children from their communities

Whitney Bryen

Long-distance placements make it more difficult for youths in foster care to see their siblings and hinder parents who are working to reunite with their children.

There's a small cement pad on the west side of North Sooner Road in Oklahoma City surrounded by overgrown grass and across the street from an abandoned pipeline operation. That's where Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Robert Burton left Ernest Antwine on Aug. 4, 2021. Five minutes later, Antwine was dead.

Local & Regional

Man in mental health crisis killed by passing truck after OKC police abandoned him

Whitney Bryen

Instead of taking him to a hospital for evaluation or taking him to jail, an Oklahoma City police officer took Ernest Antwine to no man’s land. And that’s where he died.

Tulsa police officer Ronni Carrocia laughs as she pushes on the bathroom door where Tulsa resident LaDonna Paris, 70, had locked herself during a bipolar episode on Oct. 25, 2021. The Tulsa Police Department investigated the actions of officers who responded to the incident, which landed Paris in jail. The department refused to release the results of that investigation. (Screen grab from body camera footage)

Local & Regional

Tulsa Police defy department policy by hiding internal investigation

Whitney Bryen

Tulsa police officers heckled a grandmother in the throes of a bipolar episode and then tackled her in October 2021. After completing an internal investigation, the department won’t say if anyone was held accountable.

Denim pockets decorated with messages about sexual assault hang on the conference room wall at New Directions in Lawton. New Directions is one of 28 victim service programs statewide that pay an $1,000 annual membership fee to receive support from the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

Local & Regional

Oklahoma abuse victim support jeopardized by nonprofit’s misspent $500k

Whitney Bryen

The only statewide organization that supports Oklahoma abuse victims is in jeopardy after federal auditors determined former staff and board members misspent more than $500,000 in public money.

Donna Giron wheels through the halls of a nursing home in Ohio.

Local & Regional

Nursing home worker shortage puts aging Oklahomans at risk

Whitney Bryen

Daily nasal swabs and layers of gloves, masks and other protective equipment became the norm for nursing home staff at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.