NO to House Bill 1343

Oklahoma House Bill 1343 filed by Rep. Justin Humphrey is dangerous, please say no to this bill and vote no at any opportunity. Oklahoma is already typically in the bottom ten of states regarding mental health, and abolishing the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSA) and transferring its duties and resources to the State Department of Corrections will be a move toward criminalization of mental health. Mental health requires focused care and lumping it in with another department will be detrimental to all Oklahomans because even Oklahomans who do not seek aid from this department benefit from the well being of others, their family, friends, and neighbors. The care of those who benefit more directly from ODMHSA would surely decline as well as I’m sure this is seen as a cost saving measure by cutting down the workforce. It could make Oklahomans fearful to seek care as Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Rep. Humphrey is showing he does not care about Oklahomans who cannot afford private care, which is thousands of people. He also is displaying a lack of care for children and family permanency as Child Welfare would suffer. The expertise of ODMHSA employees is used to help create networks of care for children and families. The CW system is already inundated with needs and has a high turnover rate because of the lack of support and compensation specialists receive. This would add to that. We want to break the state care to prison pipeline, not bolster it. Oklahoma will remain a bottom tier state in the nation if we continue to make cuts to services, like ODMHSA, which help people and allow them to live more fulfilling and productive lives. We need to care about the whole person and meet them where they are at. Please say NO to HB 1343.