Oklahoma City Community Assessment Reveals Significant Behavioral Health Service Needs

To understand the needs of residents, a recent Oklahoma City Community Assessment examined how well residents can meet their basic needs in a community where overdose deaths have nearly tripled since 2019, tens of thousands of adults live with mental illness, and about one-quarter of middle and high school students have serious thoughts of suicide amid high levels of poverty, housing instability, and food insecurity.

While the assessment report stated about 700,000 people live in Oklahoma City, totals based on age or social factors were not included.

Nearly 127,000 people (18% of the population), live in areas . . .