Mental health director to cut budget by more than 6%

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse is cutting his agency's budget by more than 6 percent because of declining state budget revenues in August.

Friday, September 13th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse is cutting his agency's budget by more than 6 percent because of declining state budget revenues in August.

Mental health director Terry Cline said the agency's projected $150 million budget will be reduced by $10 million for the rest of the fiscal year.

Cline said the 14 private mental health centers contracted with the state will have discretion about where they cut as long as its not in certain areas, such prescriptions for ``new generation'' drugs.

``We know the medications are extremely helpful, so we are not cutting there,'' Cline said Thursday.

Private contractor Stan LaBoon, executive director of Hope Community Services in south Oklahoma City, said his clients already are seeing a doctor for medications only once every two or three months instead of every month.

``Now, we may have to spread that out even further,'' LaBoon said. ``To be honest, adult core services will have to be cut even more with the limitations the department is putting on us.''

Cline said he will not cut back on the program aimed at singling out the severely mentally ill and keeping them out of expensive hospital care and in community treatment programs.

The Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) involves teams going into the community to locate and treat the severely mentally ill.

Mental health services for children and substance abuse services for women also will be excluded from funding cuts.

The budgets for the five state-operated mental health centers' budgets will be trimmed by about 7 percent, Cline said.

Tulsa mental health advocates have recently criticized the mental health department because it does not have enough inpatient beds for the severely mentally ill.

On Thursday, Cline announced a program to increase the number of beds in the Tulsa area from 45 to 55, but advocates say at least 100 beds are needed.

Crowding at the Tulsa Center for Behavioral Health has resulted in an overload of patients at Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman. Clients are taken to Norman when the 45 beds fill up at Tulsa.

The mental health governing board is scheduled to meet in Tulsa on Friday, and Cline said members have requested that the Tulsa problem and the budget be discussed.