EDITORIAL: Recent court dispute highlights Oklahoma's mental health crisis

Feb. 09--THE mental health crisis facing Oklahoma was made crystal clear last week in an Oklahoma County courtroom. With any luck, policymakers were paying attention.

District Judge Ray C. Elliott threatened to have Terri White, the head of Oklahoma's mental health agency, thrown in jail because an inmate who needed treatment hadn't received it six months after it was ordered. "You don't just get to ignore a court order," Elliott scolded the agency's general counsel, who represented White at a contempt-of-court hearing.

Elliott's frustration is understandable. Instead of being transferred to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita for treatment and evaluation to see if he could assist in his own case, Ricky Edwards had remained in the Oklahoma County jail. Edwards, 35, faces two counts of sexual battery but has been deemed mentally incompetent. The number of inmates with mental health or substance abuse issues makes the jail the largest mental health facility in the state, but its services aren't comparable to the Vinita hospital.

It also needs to be said, however, that taxpayers would be hard pressed to find a more passionate and committed Oklahoma agency director than White. Her presentations to lawmakers, media and anyone else who will listen make the point that while Oklahoma has made some strides, it lacks the facilities and funding needed to make truly significant gains.

The Edwards case provides a glaring example. He needs the sort of help available at the Oklahoma Forensic Center, but the facility (capacity: 175) is full and has a list of about 100 others waiting to be admitted.

As mental health commissioner, White has the legal authority to delay inpatient placements if doing so will put the facility beyond capacity. This has happened with inmates not just in Oklahoma County but elsewhere. In Tulsa County, the public defender's office has taken legal action to fix the same problem.

Rob Nigh, interim public defender in Tulsa County, noted the state has long been "using the county jails as warehouses for people who need ... mental health care. We have an obligation and a responsibility to provide treatment that they need."

Few would argue otherwise, certainly not White. In an effort to address these delays, state mental health professionals will begin providing treatment at the Oklahoma County jail to inmates deemed mentally incompetent. Elliott also suggested White move resources from other areas within the agency to meet her legal obligation.

That may be the only remedy for now, but doing so also would be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Some other agency services would go wanting. As it is, White has asked the Legislature for $10.2 million more than she got for this fiscal year, simply to maintain existing programs at current levels. (She also would like more funding to expand the use of mental health courts, which help keep offenders out of prison while providing the help they need.)

Elliott was right when he told the mental health agency's legal counsel in court that the long waiting list for help in Vinita was "really not my problem." But mental health concerns are Oklahoma's problem. The state's rate of mental illness is third-highest in the country; six out of 10 Oklahoma adults who need treatment for mental illness or substance abuse don't get it. These problems ultimately land many who need treatment in jail where, as we saw vividly last week, remedies are few.

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