Our Story

As a “safety net” provider, NorthCare provides services to individuals and families regardless of their ability to pay.  It is estimated that 70% of individuals receiving services have no insurance coverage.

In addition NorthCare provides behavioral health treatment services to those in the criminal justice system restoring these individuals to the community through services and intensive supports:

• ReMerge is an interagency collaboration with public and private entities to design and implement a community-based prison-diversion program for mothers with young children involved with the justice-system.
• The Veteran’s Diversion program is a partnership with the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office and the Veterans Administration (VA) to develop.
• NorthCare Family Treatment Center is residential substance abuse treatment for women and their children. This program providing up to six months of treatment has beds dedicated to serving women leaving the Department of Corrections.

NorthCare is one of first three centers in Oklahoma designated as a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Only eight states in the nation were selected to participated in the national initiative to improve and expand access to mental health and substance abuse services. The development of CCBHCs in 2017 marked the start of a transformation for community mental health centers that revolutionizes care for the most vulnerable in our community.

What is a CCBHC? CCBHCs provide a comprehensive range of mental health and substance use disorder services to vulnerable individuals. CCBHCs provide nine types of services, with an emphasis on the provision of both substance use and mental health care, 24-hour crisis care, evidence-based practices, and care coordination.

NorthCare is committed to being trauma informed; understanding the effects of trauma including but not limited to physical and/or sexual abuse, domestic violence, neglect, disasters; and implementing emerging culturally competent best practices in trauma treatment. NorthCare is dedicated to recognizing and responding to the needs of individuals living with mental illness and substance abuse and their families and believes that all adults and children who request services, regardless of which “door” they enter, should be assessed for trauma.

Through the use of NorthCare services, consumers and families have an opportunity to achieve an enhanced quality of life by easing emotional pain and suffering, breaking dysfunctional patterns in families and assisting to minimize and/or prevent the development of more long-term and persistent mental illness. All services are recovery oriented, co-occurring capable, trauma informed, strengths based and culturally competent with consumers and providers working as partners in treatment.

Utilization of evidence-based practice of care is the primary methodol by which NorthCare provides services.  These are therapeutic interventions that have documented approach and outcomes.

Here are some examples of evidence-base practice offered by NorthCare:

• trauma (for children and youth, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or TF-CBT, and for adults, Cognitive Processing Therapy or CPT, The Trauma Recovery Empowerment Model or TREM, and Seeking Safety);
• behavioral problems in children (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, or PCIT and Parent Management Training);
• young children’s social/emotional development and addressing challenging behaviors in childcare settings(Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation);
• maladaptive dynamics in families ( Cognitive Behavioral Family Therapy and other Family Systems Models);
• mental health, substance abuse, and co-occurring disorders (for adults, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy or MBCT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT, Motivational Interviewing, and a milieu of Substance-Abuse Recovery Groups),
• For populations at risk for re-hospitalization and self-harming behaviors (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or DBT).
• Suicidal ideation (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality CAMS).
• Jail and prison diversion programs utilize the treatment manual “Criminal Conduct and Substance Abuse Treatment” and Moral Reconation Therapy.

Recovery from mental disorders and/or substance abuse disorders is a process of change.  Rather than just providing treatment, behavioral health services are to help people to achieve their full potential in life.

According to Mentalhealth.gov, there are four major dimensions support life in recovery:

• Health: Make informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being.
• Home: Have a stable and safe place to live.
• Purpose: Engage in meaningful daily activities, such as a job or school, volunteering, caring for your family, or being creative. Work for independence, income, and resources to participate in society.
• Community: Build relationships and social networks that provide support.

Families have complex needs requiring a diverse service array.  NorthCare began providing home-based services to children and families in the 1980s.  Today NorthCare offers numerous programs and services to improve the well-being of vulnerable children and their families.  Youth and child services include wraparound, LGBTQ support groups and mobile crisis team.

Through a partnership with the Department of Human Services Child Welfare, interventions such as Intensive Safety Services, Comprehensive Home-based Services (CHBS) are designed to support families, children and caregivers in 45 counties in central and western Oklahoma.

NorthCare partners with Variety Care, a Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC) to provide integrated primary and behavioral healthcare services in the Oklahoma City area. In 2009, the partnership received federal funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s Integrated and Primary Health project.

To improve costs and access to medication, NorthCare began partnering to operate on-site pharmacies.  The NorthCare pharmacy has become an important services and is operating in three locations.