Mayor Bynum Shares Goals For Addressing Homelessness In Tulsa

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum laid out goals for the future and celebrated some of the city's accomplishments during his "State of the City" speech on Thursday.

In his speech, Mayor Bynum touched on economic development for Tulsa, strengthening partnerships with tribal governments, and mental health.

But a lot of his speech also focused on issues surrounding housing and homelessness in Tulsa.

He said in less than a year, the city has exceeded its goal of raising $500 million for new housing.

Bynum said more than 20 initiatives are underway to address homelessness across the city.

He said in the coming months, the Tulsa Police Department, Tulsa Housing Authority and Tulsa Day Center will form a partnership to help officers address mental health problems in the field.

"If our officers encounter someone in the field who is mentally unable to care for themselves, and both an officer and a mental health clinician agree on this, we will file an emergency order of detention to get that person into a treatment center to get them the help that they need," Bynum said.

The city said the new program will add emergency temporary housing for those individuals once they are released.

The Tulsa Housing Authority will then work with the city to find them permanent housing.