At the Tulsa Regional Chamber's Executive Committee meeting on Monday, behavioral health expert Brent Black recounted a success story that took place at BeHeard, a mobile homelessness outreach program in Tulsa.

Through a case manager, a man who had been unhoused for three years was able to reconnect with his son, who took him into his home in Stillwater, Black said.

“That’s just one example of making that impact and that change,” said Black, CEO of CREOKS Behavioral Health Services. “We just have to do that every day and understand that everybody’s story is different, and the needs are different.

“We can’t journalize that every story is the same… We just need to continue the resources and finances to be able to do these great things.”

Black was part of panel discussion on the state of mental health and homelessness. Chamber 2026 Chair Dr. Cliff Robertson, president and CEO of Saint Francis Health System, moderated the panel, which included Adam Andreassen, CEO of Family & Children’s Services; Josh Cantwell, CEO of GRAND Mental Health; and Zack Stoycoff, executive director of the Health Minds Policy Initiative.

The Chamber has been working closely with the City of Tulsa on homelessness and public safety issues.

Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols has committed to achieving “functional zero homelessness” by 2030, meaning homelessness will be “rare, brief and non-recurring.” Among his goals are reducing the city’s eviction rate, creating a system of mental and substance abuse supports and ensuring an adequate, low-barrier shelter. 

Tulsa’s last Point-in-Time (PIT) count of the homeless numbered close to 1,500, with 500 of those people sleeping outside every day, Nichols told Chamber volunteer leadership earlier this year. 

“Quite frankly, a lot of what we’re dealing with right now is what I call headwinds,” Andreassen said. “Some of them are federal. Some of them are state. Some of them are local.

“There is a lot of certainty and there are a lot of rightful questions about what we get for the investments we make.”

Panel experts said the acuity of the problem has increased since the pandemic, with more people developing anxiety and depression at the same time funding and state leadership have been lacking.

“Let’s start budgeting, planning and programming for outcomes and the actual gaps in treatment need,” Stoycoff said. “…Step number one, take the commissioner position back to the board of the Department of Mental Health and not make it a gubernatorial appointee.

“Again, nothing against Governor Stitt but that is inherently not a political position. This is a healthcare agency. It should be hired and fired based on the qualifications of an executive that has been determined by a board of directors.”

Regarding homelessness, Andreassen said Oklahoma’s eviction rate is among the nation’s highest, noting that only 7% of 253 housing applications Family & Children’s Services completed last year were filled.

“Then, on the back end, when we look at when people do get into the housing, it’s about maintaining the housing,” Cantwell said. “The only way to do that is to wrap mental health services around them, so that stay stable and don’t lose their opportunity for that housing.”

People with major criminal backgrounds also are impeding the housing process, Black said.

“One of our biggest barriers are felonies,” he said. “Even if they had a felony 10 to 15 years ago, it’s still on their record, and landlords are just not OK with that. It just puts us in a spot where it’s difficult to find that housing.”