Oklahoma Mental Health Treatment Plan Approved After Year-Long Delay
- mike33692
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
Oklahoma Mental Health Treatment Plan Approved After More Than Year-Long Delay
An Oklahoma mental health treatment plan aimed at reducing lengthy jail waits for criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial has finally been approved more than a year after it was originally due.
The Oklahoma mental health treatment plan is part of a federal consent decree involving the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The agreement requires the state to provide court-ordered competency restoration treatment within 21 days, but hundreds of defendants with severe mental illness have instead remained in county jails for months waiting for services.
Oklahoma Mental Health Treatment Plan Finally Wins Approval
According to reporting from The Frontier, four previous versions of the department's plan were rejected by court-appointed consultants and attorneys representing defendants because they lacked sufficient detail and were developed without adequate collaboration among the parties involved in the settlement.
Court consultant Neil Gowensmith approved the latest version in a letter filed July 13 in federal court in Tulsa, but made clear that approval does not mean the state has fulfilled its obligations.
"While we approve the Plan, we consider this to be the first serious effort on the part of ODMHSAS to implement the Decree," Gowensmith wrote on behalf of the three consultants monitoring the department. "More than a year has gone by since entry of the Decree, much of that time wasted by a lack of real focus on the Decree."
The plan was originally due by June 9, 2025. The Frontier reported that as recently as January, court consultants said an acceptable plan still did not exist while the number of people waiting in county jails for mental health treatment had increased by 58%.
Defendants Wait Months For Court-Ordered Treatment
The consent decree stems from a 2023 lawsuit accusing the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services of violating the civil rights of criminal defendants with severe mental illness by leaving them in jail for extended periods while they waited for competency restoration treatment.
Under the agreement, Oklahoma is ultimately required to begin providing that treatment within 21 days of a court order.
The newly approved strategic plan shows how far the state remains from that goal. In May, 203 people were waiting in Oklahoma county jails for treatment, with an average wait of 104 days.
The department has already been fined $3.5 million for failing to reduce treatment wait times and make other required improvements. According to The Frontier, lead plaintiffs' attorney Paul DeMuro said the agency could face another round of financial penalties beginning in October when the consent decree's annual cap resets.
The federal court case and related filings are part of the public record maintained through the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, where compliance with the consent decree continues to be monitored.
Attorneys Say Oklahoma Still Has A Long Way To Go
DeMuro said the approved plan represents a significant change in how the department is approaching the consent decree, crediting leadership changes within the agency and a federal judge's previous finding that the state had failed to make its "best efforts" to comply.
"I'm confident, if the department maintains this level of focus and collaboration, we can get this done," DeMuro said.
Still, he cautioned that improvements have not yet translated into meaningful changes for many people working inside Oklahoma's criminal justice system.
"If you talk to public defenders, district attorneys and judges, they are still not seeing the changes," DeMuro said. "We've got a long way to go."
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services called approval of the strategic plan a meaningful step forward while acknowledging that significant work remains.
The plan now calls for the department to build a competency restoration system capable of better serving courts, counties, treatment providers and defendants. Court consultants will continue monitoring the state's progress as Oklahoma works toward meeting the consent decree's 21-day treatment requirement.