Oklahoma lawmakers attempt to reduce crime related to mental health

Oklahoma lawmakers are taking steps toward reducing mental health related crimes with a plan for court-ordered treatment.

The proposed bill, House Bill 1697, would amend the current mental health laws in Oklahoma to give courts the authority to order treatment and medication to assisted outpatients. Assisted outpatients refers to any individual 18 years and older who has severe mental illness that hinders his or her ability to survive safely in the community without supervision, as determined by a medical professional.

Oklahoma has been slow to accept the need for reform of mental health treatment, according to Sheldon Adkins, director of university counseling services at Oklahoma Christian University.

“I would generally say that what starts on the coast takes years before it gets here to the middle,” Adkins said. “My understanding is, from people I know who work in university settings on the coast, is that people are more likely to access therapy sooner, before things become a crisis and more likely when it’s a lower level.”

Part of this phenomenon is geographical location and state political ideologies, Adkins said.

“As you move more towards the middle of the country and the south of the country, there’s more of an independent spirit and people are more likely to handle problems on their own,” Adkins said. “And people in redder states are less likely to want government involvement in their personal lives, so there’s just not been funding for a lot of those things.”

Currently, assisted outpatient treatment is generally only available if a person has been hospitalized at an inpatient psychiatric facility.

Adkins said he thinks this law could be beneficial but would need to see it implemented to determine how well it would worked realistically.

Mental health advocates presented a Senate interim study focused on assisted outpatient treatment and other mental health treatment strategies at the Oklahoma Capital on Nov. 3, according to NewsOK.

Oklahoma has one of the highest percentages of people with mental disorders with 13.3 percent of the population, of which about 13,000 are offenders, according to News 9. Incarceration rates to hospitalization rates for Oklahomans with mental disorders is 3.6 to 1, according to Treatment Advocacy Center.

Adkins said although there will be a cost associated with implementing assisted outpatient treatment in Oklahoma, it will reduce costs for the state in the long run by decreasing the number of hospitalizations and incarcerations.

“If we can address things preventatively, before a crime is committed, I believe that while it’s expensive, it costs less to treat someone preventatively rather than one involved with the legal system,” Adkins said. “I believe it’s possible that we could raise awareness to the point where we can reduce the number of people incarcerated in the state, which is a significant number, and in turn, be able to treat more folks while they’re still in the community but are not a risk to themselves or to other people.”

The announced 10 percent budget cuts for Oklahoma would make additional mental health funding difficult, Adkins said.

“When our state is talking about a 10-percent budget cut, I still question how they’re going to be able to fund this,” Adkins said.

Adkins said conversations about mental health care in Oklahoma tend to be short-lived and do not always result in change.

“Preventative care sounds wonderful, but frequently, until really bad events occur, it just sounds wonderful, but it’s hard to get funding for it,” Adkins said.

Adkins said he has some reserved judgment about the proposed bill.

“I would want to see where they drew the lines as far as who they entered into these programs,” Adkins said. “If it’s simply a catch all for people who still need a higher level of care, I would have concerns about that and whether or not it went far enough.”

Ultimately, Adkins said education is the first step to reducing mental health related crimes, like the Oklahoma State University homecoming tragedy and the death of former Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Mark Costello.

“I don’t mean to belabor it, but as long as our system is set up this way, where there’s no real treatment for serious mental health, it’s going to come back into our view screen again, it’s just going to have a different name to it and a different situation,” Adkins said. “I wish that we could stay focused on these serious topics for longer than the news cycle.”

00