Oklahoma City and Schools Win $11.5M for Youth Mental Health

Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City Public Schools have received a combined $11.5 million in federal grants to expand mental health services for children and young people, with the school district taking the larger share through a grant that pushes prevention and clinical support into school buildings.

The funding comes from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The city's portion is $4 million over four years; the district's is roughly $7.5 million over five years through Project AWARE, a federal school-based mental health program, and will be administered locally through EmbraceOKC.

How the two grants divide the work

The city grant is aimed at coordination. Oklahoma City will use its $4 million to develop a linked system of mental health services for children and young adults from birth through age 21. The program is described as serving families across the city, with additional focus on two ZIP codes, 73127 and 73108.

The district's grant is more operational. The Project AWARE money is designated for school-based mental health services, prevention programming and early intervention, the pieces that determine whether a student who is struggling is identified and connected to care rather than referred out and lost.

The local data behind the award

Two local assessments are cited as the case for the spending. In the 2023-24 Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment, about 80 percent of surveyed middle and high school students in the district reported moderate to high depressive symptoms. One in 10 reported considering suicide, and 7 percent reported attempting it.

A 2025 assessment by Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, an Oklahoma policy and research group, found a 27 percent increase in mental health-related emergency department visits among Medicaid-covered children younger than 18 between 2022 and 2024.

What officials said

Mayor David Holt framed the city grant as an extension of work already under way. "This grant enables us to expand our collaborative work with mental health service providers to support Oklahoma City's young people," he said.

Superintendent Jamie Polk put the district's share in terms of classroom readiness. "Every child deserves to feel safe, supported, and ready to learn," she said.

Healthy Minds Policy Initiative said it helped secure both grants and will evaluate the programs as the city and the district expand their mental health resources, which gives the award a built-in measurement plan rather than only a spending plan.

What the grants do not yet specify

The announcements do not say how many new clinicians or counselors either grant will fund, or how quickly the district expects to add services across its schools. They also do not describe how the city's two targeted ZIP codes were selected, beyond the focus itself.

Families in the city can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by call or text at any hour; the lifeline provides free and confidential support.

For readers looking for the clinical side of this kind of care, youth and adult services are described under mental health and outpatient treatment.