“You’re going to have tough choices. And I know this isn’t going to shock any of you — I’m not going to make it easy for you. I’m not going to just say, ‘Yep, I know it’s tough choices’ and not advocate for what I think is the best use of state dollars. So, my thought that we should all be thinking about is, ‘How much is a life in Oklahoma worth?’ “

– Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner Terri White, advocating for mental health funding at a senate appropriations hearing on Wednesday. Oklahoma spends $56.22 per capita on mental health, well below the national average of $129.27 per capita (Source)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carly Putnam joined OK Policy in 2013. As Policy Director, she supervises policy research and strategy. She previously worked as an OK Policy intern, and she was OK Policy's health care policy analyst through July 2020. She graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2013. As a student, she was a participant in the National Education for Women (N.E.W.) Leadership Institute and interned with Planned Parenthood. Carly is a graduate of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits Nonprofit Management Certification; the Oklahoma Developmental Disabilities Council’s Partners in Policymaking; The Mine, a social entrepreneurship fellowship in Tulsa; and Leadership Tulsa Class 62. She currently serves on the boards of Restore Hope Ministries and The Arc of Oklahoma. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, and doing battle with her hundred year-old house.

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