Officials break ground on new behavioral care center slated to go next to new jail
OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) - It’s official. Construction for the new behavioral care center slated to be next to the new Oklahoma County jail is underway.
There’s been a lot of debate and discussion for years over the project, but officials said the moving of dirt Friday morning is a moment they’ve been waiting for since about 2007.
"An exciting day for the future of Oklahoma County and serving those that need mental health help,” District 3 County Commissioner Myles Davidson said.
The new 60-bed behavioral care center will be built with COVID relief funds, but it will be separate from the new jail, both sitting near 1901 E. Grand Boulevard. Those against it have argued for that money to go to communities for mental health facilities or infrastructure.
"You're rolling the dice just like in a Las Vegas casino,” Mark Faulk with the People’s Council for Justice Reform said at a Dec. 2 County Commissioners meeting. “You're betting with taxpayer money."
The new site will join the likes of one in Davidson County in Nashville Tennessee. They built a new jail and behavioral care center about 5 years ago.
"The numbers that have come back from Nashville are tremendous as far as reducing recidivism,” Jeff Bradley with the HOK design/architecture firm over the project said at Friday’s event.
Bradley said criminal re-offense there dropped over 50 percent after people went through their center.
"This mental health facility is going to save lives,” Cathy Costello said.
Cathy Costello’s son suffers from schizophrenia. In 2015, he stabbed his dad and labor commissioner Mark Costello to death at a Braum’s in Oklahoma City.
"If we'd had this facility available nine years ago, perhaps we could have gotten Christian the help that he needed,” she said.
Now, planning the jail nearby is next.
"We're going to have to get together and figure out how to take that next step,” Davidson said.
The center should be done by sometime around Sept. 2026. However, it has to be done by Dec. 31 of 2026 due to deadlines for using the COVID relief money.