Why Senate Bill 484 Would Harm Domestic Abuse Victims In Oklahoma

Oklahoma's bills that may become laws this year are already emotionally affecting many people, especially those in need most. Although Senate Bill 484 is targeted towards resolving the homelessness problem in the state, it will also affect those trying to escape an almost entirely different issue: domestic violence.

Like the 51. 5 percent of women in Oklahoma, I have had my own personal experience with domestic violence. As a child, I was directly affected by domestic violence amongst my biological parents.

When I was around nine years old, I was the oldest of four children. My biological mother was working and raising us with my step father in the apartment complex. "The View," in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Unfortunately, my parents were like many others who drank alcohol, which led to violent fights in the home.

My first run-in with Marie Detty Youth and Family Services here in Lawton was when my mother tried to find somewhere to go in order to get us out of the house and away from my stepdad. I remember us walking in what seemed like the middle of the night. I remember her hitting the intercom button at the shelter, asking if we could stay for the night.

Later on down the road, our family grew and my parents eventually had seven children, including me. All of us were eventually placed into Department of Human Services (DHS) custody, and I grew up in Oklahoma's foster care system until I was adopted at 16 years old.

Imagining now that someone in my mother's position may not be able to receive the same kind of help because of SB 484 truly breaks my heart. Knowing that a woman, or man or even children at risk of suffering physical abuse or other forms of domestic violence, won't have a single place to go for refuge if they don't have family or friends to take them in - it's appalling.

The bill specifically states that actions to help a "homeless person" in a municipality with less than 300,000 people will be outlawed by Nov. 1, 2025, if the bill is passed and signed into law.

According to the bill, a homeless person would be considered someone who "lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence" or "has as a primary nighttime residence a publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations," or "has as a primary nighttime residence a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings."

The bill also offers a second definition for homeless person as "those persons and families who do not have access to normal accommodations as a result of violence or the threat of violence from a cohabitant."

So, if you're like my mother, trying to do what's best for herself and her children by leaving the home until you're safe, you'll have nowhere to go for safety if this bill passes.

I wish that I could say I knew for sure that something like this wouldn't ever become law, or even a filed bill, and yet, here we are.