By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services is considering privatizing four of its behavioral health facilities.
The state agency issued a request for proposals on Friday, seeking providers to serve as certified behavioral health clinics in certain areas of the state, taking over from state-run facilities.
But there is some concern over the jobs of state employees who currently work at the state-run clinics and expanding the state’s behavioral health clinic model while struggling to fully fund what currently exists, one provider said.
“The (request for proposal) is an initial fact-finding step to understand what options exist and whether a private operator could enhance technology, modernize facilities and support long-term workforce needs,” according to a news release.
The request for proposal is focused on Oklahoma’s four state-run Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, or CCBHCs, in Lawton, McAlester, Norman and Fort Supply, according to an agency spokesperson. The award is for the right to operate a CCBHC in the specific area.
CCBHCs are federally certified clinics that provide mental health and substance abuse treatment to all, regardless of ability to pay, and offer 24/7 crisis response and care, according to the Mental Health Department.
“ODMHSAS is exploring whether partnering with a private provider on the department’s CCBHCs could improve technology, expand workforce capacity, and provide more consistent service delivery statewide. No decisions have been made,” said Maria Chaverri, a spokesperson for the Mental Health Department, in a statement.
The request for proposal also includes Logan and Oklahoma counties, which are being “re-opened due to greater demand and population size” which will allow the state agency to “expand services and meet the demand,” Chaverri said.
The bidders that win the contracts “shall interview all willing incumbent staff during the designated overlap period and document all interview outcomes upon request,” according to the terms of the request for proposal. They are also required to use existing state-run facilities.
Joy Sloan is the president of the Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma, a coalition of eight certified community behavioral health centers throughout the state, and CEO of Green Country, a CCBHC in Muskogee.
“They’re just trying to get the state-operated centers out of business and privatize those CCBHCs,” she said.
Current certified behavioral health clinics will most likely bid to expand their service areas and take over the state-run facilities, she said.
Sloan said her concern is that the current CCBHC model already isn’t properly funded. She and other CCBHC leaders in May said the state has failed to pay for some services that have already been provided, with the total in the millions of dollars.
Sloan said she can also see how current employees at the state-run CCBHCs could be concerned about job security if the state agency decides to privatize the facilities.
The Mental Health Department will accept proposals through Jan. 17.
The state agency, amid financial distress this year, has been in the process of reviewing hundreds of contracts. Various reports, including from the State Auditor and Inspector and the Legislative Office for Fiscal Transparency, have found a pattern of overspending at the Mental Health Department.
Officials previously said the number of contracts that have not been renewed or cancelled, or the total dollars saved from this process, would not be disclosed until the review was complete.
