Funding gaps in mental health treatment for homeless Tulsans
Summary
Healthy Minds and Housing Solutions mapped Tulsa's mental health and homelessness systems and found major holes: no behavioral health medical respite, no forensic ACT teams, and an unfunded $800K-$1M need to route EMSA mental-health calls into the diversion program. Tulsa has cut police mental-health calls by 54%, but nearly 40% of 911 mental-health volume bypasses the program via the EMSA path.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 3
- Last 30 days
- 0
Last discussed May 20, 2026.
Impact analysis
Up to $1 million annually to fully scale mental health diversion, plus uncosted investments for respite beds and forensic ACT teams (~1.5x ROI per national studies).
Homeless Tulsans with serious mental illness get pathways to treatment and housing — and everyone benefits from fewer ER, jail, and first-responder costs.
Nonprofit partners currently absorb costs the city doesn't fund, and displaced Crossroads/Clubhouse clients lose their community support at month's end.
Mentions & discussions (3)
Council Budget & Special Projects Committee - May 20, 2026
Councilors Bellis and Decter Wright called 911 co-response and forensic ACT team funding non-negotiables given state mental health cuts and federal instability, urging the committee find the dollars.
Council Public Works Committee - May 13, 2026
Healthy Minds and Housing Solutions mapped Tulsa's mental health and homelessness systems and found major holes: no behavioral health medical respite, no forensic ACT teams, and an unfunded $800K-$1M need to route EMSA mental-health calls into the diversion program. Tulsa has cut police mental-health calls by 54%, but nearly 40% of 911 mental-health volume bypasses the program via the EMSA path.
Council Public Works Committee - Mar 25, 2026
Healthy Minds' assessment found 77,000 of 100,000 county residents with substance use disorder go untreated, and the most vulnerable zip codes — including 74110 and 74115 — have the worst access to care. Councilors asked what the city can actually do: better naloxone distribution, jail-to-community transition programs, and school prevention funding.
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