Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) is an agency

Government agency

A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...

of the Government of Oklahoma

Government of Oklahoma

The government of the US State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial...

responsible for providing public health services relating to mental illness

Mental illness

A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...

and substance abuse

Substance abuse

A substance-related disorder is an umbrella term used to describe several different conditions associated with several different substances .A substance related disorder is a condition in which an individual uses or abuses a...

. The Department is governed by the Board of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

The governor of the state of Oklahoma is the head of state for the state of Oklahoma, United States. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the Oklahoma executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma...

with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate

Oklahoma Senate

The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of Senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution....

. The Board, in turn, appoints the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to serve as the chief executive officer of the Department.

The current Commissioner is Terri White

Terri White (commissioner)

Terri L. White is an American social worker who is serving as the Oklahoma Secretary of Health. White was appointed by Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry in 2009, becoming Henry's fourth Health Secretary and the first women to hold that position...

, who was appointed by the Board in 2007. Commissioner White was appointed by Governor Henry to serve concurrently as the Secretary of Health

Oklahoma State Cabinet

The Cabinet of the Governor of Oklahoma is a body of the most senior appointed officials of the executive branch of the government of Oklahoma. Originally an informal meeting between the Governor of Oklahoma and various government officials, the Governor's Cabinet has evolved into a major part of...

in 2009.

The Department was established in 1953 during the term of Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

Johnston Murray

Johnston Murray was the 14th Governor of Oklahoma, from 1951 until 1955. He was a member of the Democratic Party. His father, William H. Murray, was also a governor of the state. Murray served as Governor from January 8, 1951, to January 1955. He served as an attorney with the Oklahoma State...

History and function

The Department was established through the Mental Health Law of 1953, although publicly supported services to Oklahomans with mental illness

Mental illness

date back to early statehood. The Department provides services through a statewide network of programs, working hard to respond to clients' needs with effective programs that are conveniently located and easy to access.

For individuals with mental illness, ODMHSAS supports a continuum of programs from community-based treatment and case management to acute inpatient care. Programs for individuals dependent on alcohol or other drugs range from outpatient counseling to extended residential treatment. The Department also actively supports prevention programs to reduce the occurrence of substance abuse, violence

Violence

Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

, and other harmful behaviors among young people.

The Department serves as the prevention, education and treatment component of the State government's approach to combating drugs. The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control

Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control , often shortened to Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics is an agency of the government of Oklahoma charged with minimizing the abuse of controlled substances through law enforcement measures directed primarily at drug trafficking, illicit drug...

serves as the law enforcement arm. The two agencies work together to develop a comprehensive drugs control strategy for the State.

Leadership

The Department is led by the Secretary of Health

Oklahoma State Cabinet

, the Chair of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board, and the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Under Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

Brad Henry

Charles Bradford "Brad" Henry was the 26th Governor of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002...

, the Chair of the Board is Joel Carson and Terri White

Terri White (commissioner)

is serving concurrently as the Secretary of Health and the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board

The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board is the governing board of the Department. The Board is composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma

Governor of Oklahoma

with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate

Oklahoma Senate

. All members of the Board serve seven year terms and no member may have served in the Oklahoma Legislature

Oklahoma Legislature

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the biennial meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma. It is bicameral, comprising the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, with all members elected directly by the people. The House of Representatives has 101...

within five years of their appointment. The Board is required to be composed of individuals meeting the following requirements:

One member must be a physician licensed to practice in Oklahoma and must be appointed from a list of not less than three names submitted to the Governor by the Oklahoma State Medical Association

One member must be a psychiatrist certified as a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that was founded in 1934 following conferences of committees appointed by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Neurological Association, and the then Section on Nervous and Mental Diseases of the American...

and must be appointed from a list of not less than three names submitted to the Governor by the Oklahoma State Medical Association

One member must be an attorney licensed to practice in Oklahoma and must be appointed from a list of not less than three names submitted to the Governor by the Oklahoma Bar Association

One member must be a psychologist, licensed to practice in Oklahoma, who must be appointed from a list of not less than three names submitted to the Governor by the Oklahoma State Psychological Association;

Three members, qualified by education and experience in the area of substance abuse recovery, who shall be appointed from a list of not less than ten names submitted to the Governor by a state association of substance abuse recovery programs

Four members must be citizens of Oklahoma, at least one of whom shall be either a current or former consumer of mental health services.

Current membership

As of 2009, the current members of the Board are as follows:

Joel Carson - Chair
Brent Bell, DO
Bruce Fisher
Henry Haynes, Ed.D.
Mary Anne McCaffree, MD
Larry McCauley, Ed.D.
Robert McDonald
J. Andy Sullivan, MD
Jack Turner OKC
Ronna Vanderslice, Ed.D.
Gail Wood

Organization

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Board
- Commissioner
  - Inspector General
  - General Counsel
  - Advocate General
  - Civil Rights Coordinator
  - Chief Operating Officer
    - Deputy Commissioner – Mental Health Services
      - Community Mental Health Centers – provide local mental health services to adults who suffer from severe and persistent mental illnesses or children who have serious emotional disturbance. The department directly operates five centers across the State and contracts with non-profits to operate ten other centers
      - Children and Families Services - provides mental health services for children, including family-based, in-home services
      - Psychiatric hospitals - operates three psychiatric hospitals across the state, which provide psychiatric evaluation and treatment to both voluntary and involuntary adult and child patients
    - Deputy Commissioner - Communication and Prevention
      - Area Prevention Resources Centers - provides various mental health and substance abuse intervention and prevention programs, including specialized programs for pregnant women, women with dependent children, and youths.
    - Deputy Commissioner - Substance Abuse Services
      - Community Treatment Centers - provides comprehensive planning and program implementation in education, training, prevention and treatment for individuals and families affected by alcohol an drug abuse. The Department directly operates four centers across the State and contracts with non-profits to operate eight other centers
    - Director of Financial Services
    - Director of Human Resources
    - Chief Information Officer

Staffing

The Mental Health Department, with an annual budget of well over $300 million, is one of the largest employers of the State. For fiscal year 2010, the Department was authorized 2,192 full time employees.

Division	Number of Employees
Central Administration	145
Inpatient Hospitals	824
Community Based Programs	977
Substance Abuse Programs	240
Residential Care Programs	6
Total	2,192

External links

Mental Disorder Network - Oklahoma City

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History and function

Leadership

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Board

Current membership

Organization

Staffing

See also

External links