This story was produced in partnership with The Frontier.
Oklahoma has missed several deadlines on a plan to improve wait times to treat people with severe mental illness charged with crimes, consultants said in a new report.
The consultants, who were hired to track the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services' efforts to implement a consent decree to settle a class action lawsuit, said progress to date has been "halting."
Consultants said in the report that they received little information from the Department of Mental Health until days before requirement updates were due, and have only been able to conduct a preliminary review of the agency's compliance.
"However, it is clear that most of the June 8 deadlines have not been met and it is questionable whether [the department] has met the 'best efforts' standard governing compliance with the Decree," the report said.
The agency said in response to questions that newly appointed Commissioner Gregory Slavonic is working on reforms.
"Interim Commissioner Slavonic began his tenure on June 9 and has made aligning the agency with the consent decree a top priority, including targeted restructuring to enhance implementation and oversight," said Maria Chaverri, a spokesperson for the department.
The report was submitted to a federal judge overseeing the case on Friday. The consultants wrote they were providing an update, in part, because of upheaval at the Department of Mental Health and recent court cases where the agency was fined for failing to move inmates in need of care. The first official report from consultants isn't required until July.
The last day for Gov. Kevin Stitt to sign legislation that would have put a mental health professional in charge of implementing the plan has also passed, effectively vetoing the bill.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, said the bill was written before the legislature removed Mental Health Commissioner Allie Friesen from her post, and when lawmakers had "no confidence in the leadership at the department."
In a statement in response to Stitt's veto, Hilbert said conversations with Slavonic have given him more confidence the consent decree will be followed.
Meyer Siegfried, press secretary for Stitt, said the bill was "politically motivated legislation targeting Friesen.
"It would have placed unnecessary restrictions on leadership at the Department," Siegfried wrote in a statement. "The Governor had full faith in Commissioner Friesen's ability and he has full faith in Admiral Slavonic's ability to properly implement the consent decree without further bureaucracy."
The consultants estimated there were 180 people in custody waiting for competency restoration services as of June 11. Another 135 people were listed as being in the "initial evaluation" phase and could be later added to the waiting list, depending on whether they are found incompetent to stand trial. Consultants said getting clarity about the length of the waitlist took "longer than it should have," and the department provided documents with conflicting information.
The consultants visited the Oklahoma County and Tulsa jails in April and found people waiting for mental health treatment, including those who were "apparently acutely psychotic" confined to jail cells for most of the day, according to the report.
"Such confinement cannot help but worsen their conditions, given the prevailing lack of treatment for those individuals," the consultants said in the report.
The settlement also required the Department of Mental Health to develop and implement a pilot program to offer treatment to some defendants in the Tulsa County jail by June 8. But the agency has not yet reached out to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office with a plan to offer treatment, said Casey Roebuck, a spokesperson for the agency. The Tulsa County jail typically has about 40 to 45 detainees waiting for transfer to the state hospital in Vinita, Roebuck said.
The settlement is estimated to cost Oklahoma between $26 million to $45 million over several years, but the final figure will depend on how long it takes the state to fully implement reforms. The state could incur fines beginning in September if it doesn't improve wait times for treatment.
In a letter to Slavonic dated June 10, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said the Department of Mental Health was "presently failing to meet its obligations under the consent decree."
"Given your recent appointment, my team suggested to class counsel and the consultants that you be allowed the opportunity to comply with the terms of the decree before either party took any action," Drummond wrote. "Any failure to promptly address the ongoing issues within [the department], however, will likely result in the agency incurring significant sanctions and penalties."
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