Secretary of State Audit: Oregon Must Take Urgent Action to Address the State’s Behavioral Health Crisis

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) needs to take urgent action to improve how the state responds to the behavioral health crisis, according to an audit released today by the Secretary of State Audits Division.

“We have a behavioral health crisis in our state and too many people are suffering,” said Secretary of State Tobias Read. “By implementing these recommendations and treating this issue with the urgency it deserves, Oregon should deliver better services that keep more people healthy, housed, and alive.”

The audit focused on Oregon’s behavioral health system and how well OHA coordinates that system to respond to behavioral health crises.

Auditors found significant gaps in Oregon’s health systems data that make it difficult for the agency and its partners to respond to behavioral health crises. For example, key demographic data about people who call into the crisis hotline is lacking. Existing systems are fragmented, with data being gathered by different entities, but not meaningfully combined for analysis. And other important data — such as the outcome of services provided, as well as the cost — simply does not exist.

These data limitations make it difficult for OHA and its partners to understand the full scale of need or even to evaluate how effective their current efforts are. Worse, these gaps have persisted for 23 years.

Auditors also found:

• Funding for the state’s behavioral health crisis response system is inadequate.
• The lack of long-term strategic planning undermines progress on behavioral health in Oregon.
• Legal and jurisdictional challenges limit Tribal nations’ ability to provide timely, effective behavioral health interventions for their communities.

Auditors issued 12 recommendations directed to OHA. These recommendations include encouraging better collaboration with system partners to address data collection issues and developing a cohesive strategy to address funding gaps in the behavioral health system. Auditors also recommend OHA do more to shore up strategic planning efforts specific to behavioral health in Oregon, and work with Tribes to remediate legal barriers that hinder action in response to crisis.

Read the full report on the Secretary of State website.