Mental Health Agency Warns of Payroll Issues Amid Cash Crunch - Oklahoma Watch

Concerns remain despite mental health agency saying they can meet payroll

Employees remain on the edge of their seat after mixed messages from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse over payroll.

Outsider to take over finances

The long-simmering scandal involving the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services' finances heated to full boil on Friday with the revelation that the agency might not make its next payroll.

AG wants mental health commissioner fired

OKLAHOMA CITY — The state’s attorney general called Friday, May 2, 2025, for Oklahoma’s commissioner of mental health to be fired, a day after the agency she oversees warned lawmakers that it will not be able to pay its employees…

Oklahoma AG calls for commissioner’s firing amid mental health agency’s ‘financial meltdown’ • Oklahoma Voice

Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Allie Friesen testifies under oath at a meeting April 17 at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City with House lawmakers reviewing her agency's finances. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)OKLAHOMA CITY — The state’s attorney general called Friday for Oklahoma’s commissioner of mental health to be fired, a day after the agency she oversees warned lawmakers that it will n…

Mental Health Agency Warns of Payroll Issues Amid Cash Crunch - Oklahoma Watch

Leaders at Oklahoma’s mental health agency have told lawmakers the cash crunch is so severe, the agency may have trouble meeting its payroll obligations this month. The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, which is under four legislative or executive investigations or audits, said on Thursday afternoon its latest budget shortfall for the current fiscal year has now reached $23 million. The shortfall has varied widely in the …

Cognitive financial therapy: Mental health agency down in the dumps

hings are getting more confusing at the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. After saying under oath that this year’s perplexing budget gap was much less than they had originally thought, agency officials reversed course this week and reported a pending payroll problem — before walking that back late Friday amid chaotic […] The post Cognitive financial therapy: Mental health agency down in the dumps appeared first o…