1 week Ago By Adria Goins/KFOR
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency (LOFT) released its findings concerning the finances of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services on Monday.LOFT executive director, Regina Birchum, testified in front of House lawmakers after she said she spent the past six weeks wading through the department’s budget."I believe that the agency does need a new budget, one that reflects reality," said Birchum.
She said the agency has followed bad budget practices for years, but it has now translated into millions in misplaced funds. The problem was passed on to the new Department of Mental Health Commissioner Allie Friesen.She testified in front of the same House committee two weeks ago.
"The reality of our situation is that it's chaotic," said Friesen.She told lawmakers her department was in the hole by $43 million.LOFT said the agency has managed to trim its overall deficit to $6.
2 million, after coming up with around $27 million in “unexplained” funds to cover the gap.House Committee grills ODMHSAS Commissioner on missing $43 million"Quite frankly I'm puzzled," said Birchum.According to LOFT, there are 195 accounts the Department of Mental Health budgeted for in 2024 — 115 accounts were “over” budget by $23 million, 66 accounts were “under” budget by $57 million.
"If you're trying to match up the invoices where things were expensed to the actual account codes that they would have been drawn against, there's very few things that match up," said Birchum.Birchum said the agency has been inconsistent and confusing with the way it has pulled money from accounts, which has made it tough to track taxpayer dollars."It is concerning,” said Rep.
T.J. Marti, R-Broken Arrow.
“I'm sure most in here can share the concern with me that we seem to not be able to follow the money."House lawmakers how have a better understanding of the problem but have little time to fix it."We are 22 days away from the end of the session," said House Majority Leader, Rep.
Mark Lawson, R-Sapulpa. "It's certainly concerning that we're this far into session and we don't have the clarity that we need to do our jobs."Here's a breakdown of where the Department of Mental Health stands on funding, according to the LOFT report:The original projected budget shortfall for the fiscal year was $63.
7 million.$19.6 million in funds previously encumbered to an account for “social service grants” that was identified as being available for Medicaid reimbursements.
$10.5 million in contract savings$27.4 million in “unexplained” funds$6.
2 million in supplemental budget request.
