OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma City is moving ahead with plans for a new mental health and substance use crisis center.
On Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council approved final plans for the MAPS 4 Robert Ravitz Crisis Center as part of MAPS 4.
MAPS 4 includes $12.27 million to build the new crisis center and expand access to mental health and substance use intervention resources for Oklahoma City residents.
“The MAPS 4 Robert Ravitz Crisis Center will be a cornerstone in our city’s mental health infrastructure,” MAPS Program Manager David Todd said. “It combines intentional, calming design with essential intervention services to ensure that residents in crisis have a safe, supportive place to recover in their time of need.”
The center will include spaces for emergency assessments, stabilization and connections to ongoing support for people experiencing a mental health crisis. It will be operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
“Too often, people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis needlessly end up in emergency rooms or jails,” said Statewide Crisis Services Director Lauren Stover. “The Robert Ravitz Crisis Center represents a major investment in a crisis response system that gives people a safe place to stabilize, access treatment and begin recovery outside of hospital emergency departments or the criminal justice system.”
Plans for the facility include an urgent recovery center with 25 observation stations and a social living area, along with two crisis stabilization wings with up to 16 beds each. The center will also have a group therapy room, calming room, social living area and outdoor courtyard, as well as administrative offices, a kitchen and a cafeteria.
The crisis center will be located at 1200 NE 13th St., on the east side of the OU Health Sciences Center campus.
Demolition is currently underway on the former Lottie House to make room for the new facility, which will begin construction early this summer.
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The center is scheduled to open next year.