Three of Tulsa County’s largest mental health service providers are scrambling for answers after the state terminated their contracts.

KRMG has obtained the letters sent to Family and Children’s Services, Grand Mental Health and CREOKS Health Services. They instruct the agencies to stop providing services included in the contracts by May 10th.

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services sent KRMG the following statement:

“Over the past year, OMES has partnered with ODMHSAS after a protest was raised regarding the original proposal. Rather than continuing to spend taxpayer money on extended litigation, OMES has determined that reissuing the proposal is in the best interest of the state.

OMES has informed ODMHSAS of alternative procurement options. ODMHSAS is fully committed to ensuring continued access to care without uninterrupted services."

Family and Children’s Services released the following:

“We have received assurances there will be no interruption in CCBHC services while a new method of contract procurement is developed.”

GRAND Mental Health released the following:

“We received an email today from the Oklahoma Office of Management & Enterprise Services (OMES) that our Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) status in Tulsa County is terminated effective May 10th. This comes just 8 days after a press release was issued from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) that all CCBHC funding was being frozen until we could provide more insight into our financial standing. No formal notice was provided explaining the reason for freezing our funding, and no forewarning was provided related to the termination of our services in Tulsa County. While we remain willing to collaborate with the state to better understand these actions, our first concern is for the over 53,000 Oklahomans served through our Tulsa office who will immediately lose their current mental health and addiction treatment services, and those unable to access future services. This includes those in our community experiencing homelessness and other underserved Tulsa populations, as well as public school students, law enforcement officials, first responders, community partners and more. The greater bearing on the Tulsa community will be significant – both in the loss of social services - including the immediate closing of our Tulsa Urgent Recovery Center and our Tulsa Addiction Recovery Center, a 250-bed residential addiction treatment center (the largest in the state) - and in economic impact, as we currently employ over 600 staff members in Tulsa. We have been in communication with ODMHSAS to resolve this matter but, at the time of this notice, we have not received formal resolution. As we are working toward a hopeful resolution, we continue to offer our full array of services in Tulsa through the May 10th contract termination date.”

CREOKS Health Services CEO Brent Black released the following:

“It’s important that the community know that we will continue to provide high-quality care to the Oklahomans who need our services. We are in regular communication with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and feel confident that there will be a positive path forward. From a day-to-day operations perspective, nothing has changed. Our clients count on expert care which we will deliver with compassion and respect.”

Mental Health Commissioner Allie Friesen said last week that her agency was looking into these types of agencies, known as Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).

A press release said there had been concerns about financial mismanagement and lack of transparency.

“For too long, these entities have been allowed to grow and scale without the necessary accountability,” said ODMHSAS Commissioner Allie Friesen. “Oklahomans rely on these services, and we must ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly. Our goal is to bring immediate transparency to how CCBHCs operate and ensure they are truly benefiting the people they were designed to serve.” Commissioner Friesen said.

KRMG has asked for an interview with the commissioner, but one has not been granted.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt addressed mental health funding in his Wednesday news conference. Stitt said the state had not cut mental health funding, but may be redirecting funds to other mental health providers.

Watch his explanation below.