She spent six months in an Oklahoma jail waiting for mental health treatment
Growing demand for beds means there’s a long waiting list for people with severe mental illness trapped in the state’s criminal justice system.
Details are scarce on how Oklahoma’s plan to privatize Medicaid will affect mental health services
The company with exclusive contract to oversee the state’s Medicaid program for kids in state custody said it plans to cut the use of in-patient treatment by offering more preventative care, but won’t release details.
An Oklahoma prison will close as the federal government moves away from using private facilities
The small town of Hinton will lose its largest employer in the closure.
Todd Lamb is frequently absent from meetings on Oklahoma County’s troubled jail
The former lieutenant governor fell short of attendance requirements last year, but continues to serve as a jail trustee.
‘No mental help:’ Man’s death in jail preceded by pleas for help from family, they say
Stephens’ mother Shannon Stephens and his aunt say they left messages at the detention center’s administrative offices dozens of times in the months leading up to his death.
Oklahoma County promised to fix its jail more than 10 year ago, but deaths and staffing issues continue
Six detention officers at the Oklahoma County jail have been charged with assault and mistreatment of inmates since October. Seven inmates have died there in the last three months and at least 84 inmates there have died since 2009, a rate more than double the national average.
Oklahoma jails and prisons don’t know when they will receive the COVID-19 vaccine
Oklahoma jails and prisons, which have cultivated some of the state’s biggest outbreaks of the disease, are still on the waiting list for the COVID-19 vaccine.
How the CARES Act forgot Oklahoma’s most vulnerable hospitals
COVID-19 relief was meant to give a lifeline to hospitals, especially the small, rural facilities that struggled to stay open before 2020. But in states like Oklahoma, problems created by confusing guidelines could cause harm long after the pandemic.