Attorneys for people with severe mental illness in jails across the state are asking a judge to fine the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services $10,000 for every day it doesn’t come up with a legitimate plan to speed up wait times for treatment.
The state’s system to treat people with mental illness who have been found incompetent to stand trial remains in disarray more than seven months after the Department of Mental Health agreed to implement reforms to end a class-action lawsuit, the attorneys claimed in a court filing Monday.
The lawsuit accused the Department of Mental Health of violating the civil rights of people in the criminal justice system with severe mental illness who sometimes wait months in jails for treatment.
The state could eventually face further financial penalties for failing to improve wait times, in addition to the new fines the plaintiffs are now asking a judge to impose.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs claim the Department of Mental Health falsely reported on progress it has made on reforms, including that it had created a new program to provide mental health treatment to people in jail, and that it has also failed to provide accurate figures on how many people are waiting for treatment. The attorneys are asking for a hearing to examine the “root causes” of the alleged false reporting and failures to comply with the agreement.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The attorneys decided to take action after consultants reported that the state had repeatedly failed to make progress on the promised reforms, said Paul DeMuro, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
“My clients are still languishing in these county jails without getting any services,” said Paul DeMuro, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “We want to sound the alarm with the court to get back involved and motivate the department to get its act together.”
The attorneys are also asking a judge to force the Department of Mental Health to designate an expert to oversee work on reforms, as the consultants have previously recommended.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the amount of proposed fines the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services could face.
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