Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma

03/05/2026

An important example of the impact Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) can have in communities.

In Indiana, a CCBHC program is helping first responders better respond to mental health crises, connecting people to care instead of leaving police and EMS to handle behavioral health situations alone.

This is exactly the kind of system the CCBHC model was designed to build.

Providers across Oklahoma are doing this work every day. At the Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma, we are committed to strengthening these systems so communities have better tools to respond to mental health crises.

Mental health care is public safety.

Two years ago Southwestern Behavioral Healthcare launched a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic.

02/27/2026

The Healthy Minds Policy Initiative 2025 Impact Report is now available. It provides a solid look at how data-driven policy is changing things for mental health in Oklahoma. If you’re interested in where our state’s behavioral health system is headed, this is a must-read.

Measuring Healthy Minds' impact in 2025.

02/27/2026

Gov. Stitt signs ‘Rain’s Law,’ fentanyl education bill named for late Cameron student

Governor Kevin Stitt has signed a bill named in honor of a Cameron University student who died nearly three years ago.

02/24/2026

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Wana Ellison, Psy.D, LPC, LADC, as Red Rock Behavioral Health Services’ designee to our Board of Directors.

As Chief Executive Officer of Red Rock Behavioral Health Services, Dr. Ellison brings both strategic leadership and deep clinical expertise to her role. Since joining the organization in 2011, she has guided the expansion of comprehensive mental health and substance use services across Oklahoma, including outpatient care, children’s services, medication-assisted treatment, and specialty court programs.

Dr. Ellison is nationally certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and has been instrumental in advancing evidence-based practices, expanding access to care, and leading innovative federal grant initiatives. She also serves on the Oklahoma Forensic Review Board and the Alliance of Mental Health Providers in Oklahoma.

We are grateful for her leadership and look forward to her contributions.

02/22/2026

Awesome to see support from our U.S Senator James Lankford!

Kristen Molloy, Marcus Vera, and Larken Wofford attended Wednesday’s luncheon in Lawton hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, where they had the opportunity to connect community leaders, including Senator James Lankford.

Senator Lankford has previously visited the Cohen Clinic, and we appreciate his continued support of the mental health services we provide veterans, service members, and their families in our community.

02/19/2026

Have you seen that Nation article about the federal health proposals? 📰 It uses as a case study for what happens when the federal government pulls the plug on healthcare spending.

The main argument is that Oklahoma is uniquely vulnerable. Between the strain on our rural hospitals 🏥 and the high rates of chronic illness, we don’t have much of a safety net to begin with. The experts interviewed are basically saying that cutting Medicaid or federal vaccination support 💉 would take a system that's already “operating under pressure” and push it past the breaking point. ⚠️

It’s a sobering look at how abstract policy shifts in D.C. turn into very real crises for local families here at home. 🏠

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-kennedy-healthcare-cuts-public-health-oklahoma/

As Trump continues to dismantle federal agencies, this state shows what happens when a one-party-controlled government makes sweeping public health changes with little resistance.

02/18/2026

Oklahoma has been awarded a $223 million federal Rural Health Transformation grant to boost health care access in rural communities across the state. The five-year funding, one of the largest in the nation, could unlock more than $1 billion for rural health projects through 2031 if benchmarks are met. The dollars are meant to expand services like telehealth, workforce training, emergency care and preventive programs in small towns that struggle with access.

At the same time, state leaders note that major federal Medicaid cuts are looming, creating uncertainty about the future of health care funding. This grant brings welcome relief, but it cannot be used to backfill Medicaid, and policymakers are urging caution as federal support shifts.

Oklahoma awarded $223 million federal grant for rural health care amid looming Medicaid cuts and state fiscal caution, with potential for over $1 billion by 2031.

02/17/2026

The proposed legislation would make it easier for prosecutors to file murder charges in cases of fatal fentanyl overdoses. Under the bill, any "detectable amount" of fentanyl would be considered prima facie evidence that the drug was the cause of death. It would also require first responders to immediately notify law enforcement of any overdose they attend.

⚖️ Proponents (including several DAs) argue this is a necessary tool to hold drug dealers accountable and respond faster to lethal distributions.

⚠️ Critics and Harm Reduction Groups worry this could have a chilling effect, making people afraid to call 911 for a friend or family member for fear of being charged with a crime themselves.

What do you think? Read more about the bill here: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/drugs/opioid-crisis/2026/02/17/oklahoma-opioid-crisis-legislative-session-overdose-criminal-prosecution/88719257007/

An Oklahoma bill aims to make it easier to criminally charge people who provide fentanyl that leads to a fatal overdose.

02/13/2026

It’s easy to look at Narcan or drug busts and call those the wins, but if you want to know why Oklahoma is actually moving the needle, you have to look at Oklahoma's Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs). 🛡️ They are the heavy-lifting infrastructure that actually keeps people alive after the emergency is over.

By 2021, Oklahoma expanded the CCBHC model statewide, bringing structured access to care to Oklahomans all across the state.

CCBHCs fixed the treatment desert. 🌵➡️💧 Before this model, if you lived in Rural Oklahoma and needed Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), you were basically out of luck. Thanks to CCBHCs, Oklahoma has seen a 700 percent increase in people accessing MAT. 📈 Unlike the rest of the country where only about a third of clinics offer all three FDA-approved meds for opioid use, every single CCBHC in Oklahoma is required to provide them. This is the gold standard of care, now. 🏆

For a long time, if someone was spiraling, they either ended up in the back of a squad car or in an ER waiting room for 12 hours. 🚔 CCBHCs created a no-wrong-door system with 24/7 crisis care.

Emergency room visits for these patients dropped by up to 47 percent, and psychiatric hospitalizations fell by as much as 69 percent. 📉 CCBHCs even handed iPads to cops (MyCare Technologies). 📱🤝 Now, many times, instead of making an arrest, an officer can hit a button and have a clinician on screen do tele-triage.

CCBHCs treat the whole person. 🧩 Overdoses don't happen in a vacuum. They're tied to homelessness, chronic pain, and untreated trauma.

CCBHCs don't just hand someone a prescription and send them away. They’re required to treat mental health and physical health under one roof.

We are grateful to law enforcement, which slows the supply. 🚔 We are grateful for Narcan, which stops death. And, we are grateful for our CCBHCs, because they actually provide the recovery. And, without them, the other two risk becoming a revolving door. 🔄🚫

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/drugs/opioid-crisis/2026/02/08/drug-overdose-deaths-oklahoma-cdc-data-opioid-epidemic-crisis/88533160007/

The latest data from the CDC shows that Oklahoma's overdose deaths dropped 43% from 2024 to 2025. Drug prevention experts say the efforts are working.

02/12/2026

Mental health policy matters.

The Oklahoma Mental Health Political Action Committee (OKMH-PAC) is working to advance responsible policy and sustainable funding that strengthen Oklahoma’s mental health system, with a particular focus on Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers (CCBHCs).

If you believe Oklahoma deserves a strong, bipartisan voice for effective mental health policy, we invite you to support this effort.

Contributions to the Oklahoma Mental Health PAC are not tax-deductible and are reported in accordance with Oklahoma law.

Learn more and contribute at https://allianceok.com/pac/

Learn about the Oklahoma Mental Health PAC, a registered political action committee supporting strong mental health policy in Oklahoma.

02/10/2026

🧠 As the Oklahoma Legislature reconvenes, some important questions are still hanging over our state’s mental health system.

A recent NonDoc article lays out the issues facing the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, including rebuilding legislative trust after budget challenges, meeting legal obligations, and ensuring stable leadership and service delivery going forward.

Lawmakers and stakeholders are wrestling with some big questions this session:

👉 Can confidence be restored after recent budget uncertainty?
👉 Will there be meaningful progress on consent decree requirements?
👉 Should Medicaid behavioral health funding be housed under one agency?
👉 What changes could strengthen services across the state?
👉 And what will ongoing investigations ultimately show?

As the second session of the 60th legislature moves forward, these decisions will directly affect providers, families, and communities who depend on a system that works and is accountable. Anecdotally, it's the Diamond 💎 Legislature. Let’s hope that under pressure, we see clarity, strength, and decisions that hold their value over time.

https://nondoc.com/2026/02/10/as-oklahoma-legislature-returns-5-questions-linger-for-odmhsas/

Lingering questions about ODMHSAS issues — like budget requests and agency overhauls — await answers in Oklahoma's 2026 legislative session.