The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services has not yet disclosed how much the agency is hoping to reduce its budget by through provider contract cuts or nonrenewals. (Photo by Kyle Phillips/For Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Three weeks after cuts to Oklahoma providers were first reported, the Mental Health Department doesn’t have concrete numbers on how much needs to be cut to right size the agency’s budget.
Maria Chaverri, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said the agency has not publicly identified a dollar amount for how many cuts are necessary, but knows there was previous overspending that the current administration is working to correct by making strategic cuts.
Nearly 800 contracts for mental health and substance abuse providers have been reviewed, but the agency’s final decisions on cuts are still being finalized, Chaverri said. Until the agency has completed its review process, a solid number of cuts or the total dollar amount saved won’t be provided, she said.
But Chaverri said as of Thursday, 300 line items, or pieces of provider contracts for specific services, had been identified for cancellation or nonrenewal as part of its process to identify duplicative or unnecessary services. This is being done in an effort to right-size its state appropriated budget of $400 million budget under the direction of Interim Commissioner Gregory Slavonic.
Retired Rear Admiral Gregory Slavonic was named at the Interim Commissioner of the Oklahoma Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services on June 3, 2025. (Photo provided by the Governor’s Office)
In the tumultuous final weeks of Legislature’s session, deficiencies in the agency’s budget first came to light and led to weeks of investigative hearings, the firing of former Commissioner Allie Friesen and an emergency supplemental appropriation so the agency could make payroll.
Various reports, including from the State Auditor and Inspector and the Legislative Office for Fiscal Transparency, found a pattern of overspending at the state agency.
“We know because of those reports, we have to reduce,” Chaverri said. “We’ve been overspending for like 10 years. … It’s a difficult problem to solve. But that’s been the systemic approach. It’s not, ‘Let’s make cuts at random.’ It’s, ‘I’m going to go line by line.’”
No essential services will be cut from any of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, she said. “Essential services” include items like competency restoration, 24/7 crisis care like the 988 mental health hotline, inpatient psychiatric treatment, outpatient mental health and substance use treatment, direct services through state facilities, among others.
The agency has also cut more than 20 executive positions, leading to $3.5 million in annual savings, she said.
If extra “non-essential” services need to be funded, the Mental Health Department will need additional funding from the Legislature, Chaverri said.
Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa, who led a legislative investigative committee into the agency’s finances, said lawmakers knew at the conclusion of session the supplemental appropriation wouldn’t fix the agency’s budgetary issues and it was expected that changes would be made at the Mental Health Department.
Rep. Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa speaks with reporters following a hearing from a select committee investigating finances Oklahoma’s mental health department on May 5, 2025. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
Lawson said it’s “appropriate” to not have a number at this point, and he’d rather that the agency be thorough and not put out erroneous numbers, which would sow instability and erode legislative and public trust.
“In a field where every day is kind of uncertain for folks in crisis, we just want to have a stable and robust network of services to be there for people when they need it,” he said. “And the last thing I think we need across the board is uncertainty or ‘Well, they said it was this number last month, and now they’re saying it’s this number,’ so now there’s no trust.”
Lawson said the Mental Health Department has brought in financial experts to help rectify its budget issues, including the business management company Deloitte.
Lawmakers from the House and Senate were briefed about potential contract cuts about a month ago and the Mental Health Department had initially identified around $50 million in contracts related to substance use disorder that could be duplicative, Lawson said. This doesn’t necessarily mean all $50 million will be cut.
While he said there will be some disruption, if the cuts later result in a “glaring gap” in services, his committee will be prepared to deal with revisiting contracts.
He said he’s confident the Legislature will be able to work with the agency to reach an accurate budget for the next fiscal year, but there could be more “bumps in the road.”
Providers have reached out to him and other lawmakers, Lawson said. He’s heard mixed answers about how they can handle the cuts. Larger providers have told Lawson they can pivot and adapt to the changes, while smaller providers are more concerned.
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“You’re not going to find a single provider that says, ‘Hey, you know what? We really don’t provide any value to the state, or we don’t provide good service,’” Lawson said. “They’re not going to say that. They all think that they’re doing great work. And they’re concerned about the folks that they take care of. But then also their business, too, is if some of these proposed cuts are deep enough, it may cause them to have to make some very serious business decisions, including closing their doors.”
Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, was also briefed on the cuts and said she was surprised by them. Kirt said she asked the agency what the goal of the cuts was. She said she wasn’t provided a dollar amount but was told the agency is aiming to “live within its means.”
“Yes, look for efficiency,” she said. “Yes, make sure you’re not wasting money. No question, we want them doing that, but automatically cutting a bunch with no clear number in mind concerns me.”
Kirt said she respects the interim commissioner and said he’s a “very honest player trying to do the right thing,” but she’s worried about overly focusing on the budget’s dollar amount rather than the sought-after improved outcomes.
“The Legislature should not be micromanaging every contract,” she said. “But we do need to understand what the priorities are.”