Leadership

President, Founding Member

Verna Foust, MS, LPC, LBP

Verna Foust, MS, LPC, LBP

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vice-President; Founding Member

Brent Black

Treasurer, Founding Member

Joy Sloan, LCSW

Secretary, Member

Heather G. Helberg, MS, LPC-S

Member

Sally Kerr, MHR, LPC

NorthCare

About Oklahoma’s Safety-Net Providers

Oklahoma’s safety net providers organize and deliver advanced mental health care and substance abuse treatment services to Oklahoma’s most vulnerable citizens including those who live at or below the poverty level. They serve in 47 of the state’s 77 counties. They are depicted below in sky blue. The counties in navy blue are covered by state-run facilities.

3,000 Employees

They employ more than 3,000 Oklahomans, many of whom are highly skilled with extensive training and/or advanced degrees. They include clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, psychiatric registered nurses, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, and more.

$96 Million Payroll

They provide great jobs for servant-minded Oklahomans who are called to work in the field of mental health and substance abuse treatment. The annual combined payroll of our provider-members is about $96 million.

Admired Nationwide

Oklahoma’s safety-net providers operate within a very sophisticated system that is often admired by other states. Our CEOs and Executive Directors, with nearly 400 years of experience in mental health, collectively, helped build this envied system with the help of many state partners including legislators. 

Oklahoma ranks 47 out of 50 states for high prevalence of mental illness and low rates of access to care.

Mental Health America, 2023 Report

Address

4400 N. Lincoln Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Phone

(405) 352-0565

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