Oklahoma’s Mental Health Caucus announces leadership and priorities

The Oklahoma Legislative Mental Health Caucus this week announced an expanded leadership team and two major priorities for the 2022 Oklahoma Legislative Session.

The caucus, which began in 2021 with about 30 members, will expand its bipartisan, bicameral leadership in 2022. Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, and Rep. Merleyn Bell, D-Norman, will serve as co-chairs alongside the caucus’ founding co-chairs, Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, and Rep. Josh West, R-Grove.

Members voted this week to focus their session efforts on preventing youth suicide and filling critical shortages in the mental health provider workforce.

“Mental health and addiction issues — especially for children — have increased in the last several years, and we don’t have enough providers to meet the need,” Haste said. “These are difficult issues, but we believe informed, bipartisan dialogue must be part of developing solutions.”

During the height of the pandemic, about half of all Oklahomans experienced anxiety or depression, and suicide in rural Oklahoma increased by 27 percent. Meanwhile, hospital systems reported, in some cases, double the number of children and youth going to the emergency room in suicidal crisis compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“We all have experience with mental health issues, whether personally or among family and friends,” Bell said. “Everyone in this caucus is ready to put aside differences and find common ground on issues that matter to all Oklahomans.”

Caucus members said there is reason for optimism heading into the legislative session, pointing to bipartisan solutions supported in 2021 by the Legislature and the governor’s office, such as telehealth expansion and funding for crisis services operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS).

“There is momentum for these issues, but plenty more work to be done,” Kirt said. “More and more legislators recognize that brain health can’t be separated from overall health, and that it deserves just as much focus at the Capitol as any other health care issue.”

West added the importance of these discussions for rural Oklahoma cannot be ignored, citing the critical shortages of mental health professionals, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, in most rural counties.

“Where I live in rural Oklahoma, we’re seeing the impacts of mental health and addiction issues every day,” West said. “We have to figure out ways to improve the availability of mental health professionals in rural areas and give all Oklahomans the opportunity they need to live their best life.”

The mental health caucus meets monthly and is a forum for legislators to discuss bipartisan solutions for the mental health and addiction challenges facing Oklahoma. Members benefit from data and best practices shared by the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan policy research group, consultation from the ODMHSAS, and other experts.