DOC has psychologist staffing challenges

The number of psychologists employed by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections has dwindled during recent years.

The agency currently has nine psychologists and 22 vacancies, a staffing level that the agency's chief mental health officer described as critical. Those nine psychologists include three clinical coordinators who have caseloads but also serve as regional supervisors.

Dr. J anna Morgan, chief mental health officer, said the understaffing issue is largely due to pay.

“When we talk to staff as they're leaving, that's their No. 1 concern,” Morgan told the Board of Corrections during a presentation about mental health services and needs last week in Oklahoma City.

The Department of Corrections is not competitive with other agencies that hire psychologists in the state, Morgan said. Following a recent pay increase, the

Department of Corrections pays psychologists about $76,000 a year. Many of the people who have left the agency have taken jobs paying $10,000 to $15,000 more a year, Morgan said.

Corrections also is a higher-risk environment compared to many other agencies and alternatives in the community, she said.

“I would think that may play a role,” Morgan said. “It is a different environment, and corrections is not for everyone.”

Mental health services staff, who include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counseling clinicians and social service specialists, perform a variety of duties that include screening and assessments, crisis intervention, treatment pl an development and review, and individual and group therapy.

Psychologists are responsible for a variety of critical duties, Morgan said, including psychological testing and evaluation for treatment planning and referrals, psychological autopsies after inmates die by suicide and evaluations for inmates with dementia-related disorders.

During the 2019 fiscal year, about 64% of inmates had a history of mental illness or were currently exhibiting some form of mental illness. About 23% of the state's inmate population was prescribed psychotropic medication.

“With the level of severity of mental illness that many of our inmates have — and that number continues to rise — it's really important for us, especially on the mental health units, to be able to have psychologists who have an even deeper understanding and more intense training in severe mental illness to be able to diagnose and treat,” Morgan said.

A comparison of data f rom the 2006 and 2019 fiscal years showed the number of psychologists working at the Department of Corrections decreased by 64%, or 17.5 positions. During that time, the Department of Corrections increased its number of counseling clinicians, which are master' s level positions, to ensure the agency is providing assessment sand basic services that are required and to ensure people are being seen appropriately and according to policy, Morgan said. The agency currently has 37 counseling clinicians.

Psychologists have more testing and assessment skills, education and experience to be able to do more in-depth evaluations, Morgan said.

“Not any mental health professional can just pick up an assessment tool and give a test,” she said. “You have to be trained in it. Our psychologists have the training and expertise to be able to complete the evaluations that are necessary for a wide range of evaluations that we have to complete.”

The staffing shortage increases the workload for employees at the agency. Morgan said she's proud of the staff they have and the work they're able to accomplish on a day-today basis.

“We have some of our staff that will stay 12 hours a day if need be to make sure everything is getting done,” she said.