Tuesday, Judge Frizzell decided to let the case go forward as a class action suit.
Last year, Childrens' Rights sued the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, saying its foster care system is broken and that puts children at risk, thus, violating their rights.
The group originally filed the suit on behalf of nine plaintiffs, but argued that since the problems with DHS are system-wide, the suit should represent the 10,000 kids in state foster care.
The advocacy group backed up that argument by saying high caseload takes time away from caseworkers' time to visit foster homes. As a result, Childrens' Rights said fewer visits, increases the potential of harm against children. The judge ruled in its favor.
"The court has found that there is a substantial risk that what DHS is doing is harming kids," said Paul DeMuro, an attorney who represents the plaintiffs.
But DHS disagreed, saying you can't prove that every child in the system is a risk.
"Picking those nine doesn't represent everything going on in the department and all the staff that's visiting with the children and the programs that we have," said Bob Nance, a DHS attorney.
Nance also said, just because DHS needs more caseworkers doesn't mean kids' rights are being violated.
"They ask for more (caseworkers) every year, that's because they would like to have more, but that doesn't mean the Constitution requires them to have more," said Nance.
Still, the judge agreed with the plaintiffs, and now Childrens' Rights is going forward with hopes of revamping the system.
"It means that we can begin to address, from the top level down, the problems of DHS on a systemic basis, instead of just case by case," said Demuro.
The plaintiffs will now begin to collect information on the 10,000 kids in state care and present that to the court.
