Policy Analysis

As youth mental health continues to suffer, new statewide survey data found that about half of Oklahoma middle- and high-school students “always” or “often” felt the urge to use social media, and about a third used it as an escape from their problems.

Without further action from lawmakers, SB 511 will expire in 2026, threatening Oklahoma’s progress in addressing an epidemic of drug overdoses and cutting short opportunities to see the law’s public health benefits come to fruition.

Some states have begun using a new Medicaid strategy to offer limited health coverage to incarcerated people nearing their release date, creating a safer and more supportive community reentry period. We explore this strategy and its potential in Oklahoma.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health challenges face obstacles that make it difficult to access the behavioral health care they need. In this paper, we examine barriers to care such as stigma, a lack of training among providers, and disconnected community supports.

During the 2024 session, the Oklahoma Legislature passed key mental health bills and appropriated over $5 million to provide much-needed support to the state’s behavioral health workforce.

Oklahoma will soon have an updated definition to determine when someone may be held in protective custody for a mental health evaluation to determine whether they need to be involuntarily hospitalized.

In this analysis, we explore how Oklahoma and other states can utilize strategies through Medicaid to address housing insecurity for Medicaid members with serious mental illness or substance use disorders.

In response to privacy and data collection concerns surrounding HB 3330, Healthy Minds collected and answered frequently asked questions about the bill and the changes it proposes.

A strategic investment in the state’s behavioral health workforce this legislative session would add more than 500 jobs and about $96.5 million to Oklahoma’s economy over the next 14 years.

Lawmakers have a unique opportunity to grow the state’s overstretched mental health workforce this legislative session, ensuring more Oklahomans can access the mental health and substance use treatment they need, when they need it.