Research and analysis
How Oklahoma can reduce housing insecurity through Medicaid
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.
March 18, 2024
Read moreHB 3330: Behavioral health licensure data bill FAQ
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.
February 29, 2024
Read moreThe economic impact of investing in Oklahoma's behavioral health workforce
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.
February 28, 2024
Read more2024 Oklahoma legislative session: Mental health policy preview
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.
February 5, 2024
Read moreOklahoma’s telehealth landscape: How policy is expanding access to care in Oklahoma
One of Oklahoma’s recent milestones in advancing telemedicine was the state’s 2021 telehealth payment parity law, Senate Bill 674, which required insurance companies to cover telemedicine services at the same rate as in-person visits.
January 18, 2024
Read moreGuidance for Oklahoma communities' use of opioid settlement funds
The Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Board will distribute funding to counties, municipalities, and school districts to address the consequences of the opioid crisis in Oklahoma. This resource aims to help communities plan for the use of opioid settlement funds to effectively prevent and treat local problems created by the crisis.
December 11, 2023
Read moreProposed federal parity rules would strengthen access to care for Oklahomans
New proposed federal rules would strengthen enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which would mean better access to care in Oklahoma and beyond.
August 23, 2023
Read moreThe case for expanding access to Medicaid school-based services in Oklahoma
With rising rates of mental distress among children and youth, schools play an increasingly pivotal role in addressing students’ mental health needs. However, only 15% of the state's 509 school districts are billing Medicaid for school-based services, despite available funding.
June 29, 2023
Read moreMental health highlights of the 2023 legislative session
All four of Healthy Minds' priority bills were approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor. This transformative package of legislation will greatly increase access to care and address critical shortages of behavioral health professionals.
June 14, 2023
Read moreThe impact of managed care on Programs of Assertive Community Treatment
Taking lessons from other states, Oklahoma providers and regulators can ensure continued positive outcomes from intensive mental health services like PACT during the state's transition to Medicaid managed care.
May 2, 2023
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Suicide and suicidality in Oklahoma: Trends, risks, and prevention strategies
Suicide is a complex, urgent public health problem for Oklahoma. Our newest report uses 10 years’ worth of data from the Oklahoma Violent Death Reporting System, along with readily available state and national data spanning nearly two decades, to answer critical questions about suicide in Oklahoma.
May 1, 2025
Achieving the outcomes and cost benefits of CCBHCs in Oklahoma
With several years of CCBHC experience, Oklahoma should now focus on strengthening implementation practices for the CCBHC model and ensuring services fulfill the model's promise.
April 23, 2025
Bringing criminal justice diversion services to scale in Oklahoma
Our new report outlines where Oklahoma's diversion services must grow to meet demand — and quantifies the economic benefits our state can expect in return.
April 1, 2025
Understanding integrated behavioral health care and the Collaborative Care Model
Integrating behavioral health services into primary care settings not only expands treatment capacity in the mental health workforce but also provides an entry point for people who might otherwise struggle to access care.
October 3, 2024
Understanding the competency evaluation and restoration process for Oklahoma criminal defendants
Competency evaluation and restoration services are critical to ensuring a person’s due process rights are protected. As Oklahoma and other states face lawsuits over lengthy waitlists for competency restoration services, it’s important to understand how these processes work in Oklahoma.
August 28, 2024
Improving access to behavioral health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities
In this analysis, we propose solutions to ensure Oklahomans with IDD have the same access to mental health treatment as any other patient, including better training of clinicians and improved coordination of services.
July 17, 2024
Barriers to care for people with co-occurring mental health disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities
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.
June 27, 2024
Programs of Assertive Community Treatment: Oklahoma’s unmet needs and opportunities to expand intensive services
Our research finds that Oklahoma’s PACT teams serve less than half the number of people who would benefit from and be eligible for these services.
January 31, 2024
Community mental health and the CCBHC model in Oklahoma
As the first state to fully transition to the CCBHC model, Oklahoma has been at the forefront of embracing change to better deliver community mental health care to its residents.
December 12, 2023
The state of Oklahoma's behavioral health workforce
Policymakers have realistic options for addressing the state's most pressing behavioral health workforce challenges. With roughly $30 million in targeted funding and policy initiatives, Oklahoma can significantly strengthen workforce pipelines to meet the state’s growing need for behavioral health professionals.
November 6, 2023
Challenges and opportunities for Oklahoma’s psychologist workforce
Among Oklahoma’s non-prescribing behavioral health clinicians, psychologists have the greatest gap between supply and demand, meeting only 37% of the state’s estimated need. Without investments in the pipeline of future psychologists, Oklahoma will continue to struggle meeting residents' needs into the next decade.
October 18, 2023
Data snapshot: Mental health and substance use in higher education
In this data snapshot, we highlight national prevalence rates of mental health conditions among U.S. college students as well as state rates of alcohol and substance use among college-age Oklahomans.
September 21, 2023
Knowledge base: Behavioral health workforce licensure in Oklahoma
Understanding the licensure process for behavioral health professionals is an important starting point for policy solutions that increase access to care for Oklahomans with mental health and substance use treatment needs.
April 14, 2023
Accessing behavioral health providers through private insurance in Oklahoma
We found that health insurance networks offer poor access to the state’s behavioral health care providers — a barrier to care for more than 2 million Oklahomans with these plans.
February 9, 2023
Surveying Oklahoma’s behavioral health workforce
To better understand the accessibility of Oklahoma's workforce, Healthy Minds conducted a survey of Oklahoma's licensed behavioral health care providers.
December 16, 2022
Opportunities for expanding school-based mental health interventions
Targeted interventions anchored within a comprehensive multi-tiered system of supports framework are crucial to the well-being of youth in our state.
November 16, 2022
Data snapshot: Methamphetamine in Oklahoma
The co-use of methamphetamine and opioids (including fentanyl) has resulted in a significant increase in overdose deaths involving both substances in Oklahoma.
October 27, 2022
A primer on 988 in Oklahoma
The rollout of 988 in Oklahoma coincides with the launch of a comprehensive crisis response system that includes mobile crisis responders and in-person emergency centers.
August 24, 2022
Aging and mental health in Oklahoma
As Oklahoma’s population ages, the need for effective behavioral health systems and services for older Oklahomans will continue increasing.
July 19, 2022
Supporting first responder mental wellness
First responders have experienced rising mental distress, with implications for the future of these professions and safety in Oklahoma.
June 15, 2022
Suicide prevention in primary care
To become a leader in suicide prevention, Oklahoma must ensure widespread screening, early intervention protocols, and provider training in primary and general healthcare settings.
April 29, 2022
Children’s mental health research series: Prevention and early intervention
In this report, we examine the current state of Oklahoma’s array of promotion, prevention, and early intervention services.
February 22, 2022
Understanding and addressing veteran suicide
This report provides a comprehensive review of veteran suicide in Oklahoma and an assessment of the mental health services and systems available to Oklahoma veterans.
February 3, 2022
Children's mental health
Already increasing before 2020, the number of children and youth struggling with poor mental health in Oklahoma has surged during the pandemic.
December 3, 2021
Children’s mental health research series: Intensive and crisis services
Amid rising need, we examine opportunities and gaps in the treatment system for children's mental health crises.
December 3, 2021
Presentation: Primary care innovations and veteran mental health
Our Mental Health Talks forum on November 22 offered a comprehensive view of primary care innovations and veteran mental health.
November 22, 2021
The impact of COVID-19 on children’s mental health
In a new report, we analyze COVID-19’s impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Oklahoma’s children.
September 29, 2021
The impact of COVID-19 on Oklahoma mental health
Our report examines behavioral health trends since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
September 2, 2021
Integrating behavioral health into primary care in Oklahoma
Integrated care promises to maximize the behavioral health workforce, while capitalizing on Oklahoma’s abundant supply of primary care doctors.
July 29, 2021
Workplace Wellness: A guide for Oklahoma business leaders
The business community can fuel economic growth by addressing the mental health of Oklahomans and advancing methods proven to support a healthy workforce.
July 29, 2021
Children’s continuum of care (Presented at 2021 INTEGRIS Health Partners Summit)
Healthy Minds shared this framework for an ideal children's continuum of care at the INTEGRIS Health Partners Summit on June 21, 2021.
June 29, 2021
Presentation: Connecting Oklahoma schools & mental health (Mental Health Talks Series – June 2021)
Our second Mental Health Talks forum on June 25 offered a comprehensive view of school-based mental health services in Oklahoma.
June 25, 2021
Mental health and violence in Oklahoma: The myths, the needs and recommended strategies
In this new report, we summarize the complex evidence about the relationship between mental illness and violence, and make recommendations for programmatic and policy changes where needed.
May 28, 2021
Behavioral health and Indian Country: Access to care in Oklahoma
View our quick-reference snapshot of behavioral health in Indian Country here.
May 27, 2021
Presentation: Oklahoma Mental Health Workforce (Mental Health Talks Series – May 2021)
Key shortages in Oklahoma’s behavioral health workforce represent a crisis Oklahoma cannot afford to ignore.
May 21, 2021
Oklahoma’s untapped workforce: The economic case for addressing mental health
Healthy Minds has released a new report on the relationship between mental health and Oklahoma's workforce.
April 26, 2021
Oklahoma behavioral health workforce: COVID-19 and the future (Part 4)
In the fourth installment of Healthy Minds' behavioral health workforce series, we examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the workforce.
April 23, 2021
Connecting mental health and Oklahoma schools
Healthy Minds has released a comprehensive report on how Oklahoma can address children's mental health in school settings.
March 18, 2021
Oklahoma behavioral health workforce: Medicaid expansion (Part 3)
In the third installment of our research series on Oklahoma's behavioral health workforce, Healthy Minds examines the impacts of Medicaid expansion and commercial managed care on the state's workforce.
February 25, 2021
Oklahoma behavioral health workforce: Action areas (Part 2)
Healthy Minds explores Oklahoma's greatest mental health workforce needs in the second report of a new policy series.
January 25, 2021
Behavioral health workforce series: Oklahoma's greatest needs and opportunities
In this four-part series, Healthy Minds examines the state of Oklahoma's behavioral health workforce, action areas for policymakers and a focus on how Medicaid expansion and a shift to Medicaid managed care will change the landscape.
December 15, 2020
Oklahoma behavioral health workforce: Greatest needs (Part 1)
Healthy Minds examines Oklahoma's greatest mental health workforce needs in the first report of a new policy series.
December 15, 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on child and youth mental health
Children are a vulnerable population during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn: They are directly affected by COVID-19 and the measures taken to prevent and control the spread of this disease.
October 5, 2020
COVID-19 projections and effects on mental health and addiction in Oklahoma
This report illustrates a possible scope of the mental health and substance abuse challenges that will arise in Oklahoma from COVID-19 and the subsequent economic…
April 1, 2020
Ensuring parity in Oklahoma: Leveling the playing field for mental health
Despite years of attempts to ensure mental health parity in insurance coverage, Oklahomans still struggle to access substance abuse and mental health treatment.
January 1, 2020
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