Longtime Oklahoma Mental Health Administrator Named Superintendent of OJA’s Next Generation Campus
OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 10, 2020)— The executive director of the Oklahoma Crisis Recovery Unit and a long time administrator with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) has been named superintendent of the Office of Juvenile Affairs Next Generation Campus, which is under construction in Tecumseh.
Bryan Hiel just completed his seventh year as executive director of the Oklahoma Crisis Recovery Unit operated by ODMHSAS. It is one of two psychiatric and substance abuse crisis centers in Oklahoma County.
Hiel is a licensed professional counselor with more than 23 years of experience in mental health and substance abuse, including more than 20 years in an administrative or supervisory capacity. He was one of the primary designers of the state’s new psychiatric urgent care model.
The Next Generation Campus is being developed on the grounds of the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Center (COJC) in Tecumseh. Operations are continuing at the juvenile center while construction is underway. The project, funded primarily by a $45 million bond issue, is expected to be completed in early 2022. When completed, the Next Generation Campus will modernize and consolidate Oklahoma’s secure-care treatment programs for juveniles.
“We are excited to have Bryan with his administrative skills and his mental health and counseling background serve as superintendent of our Next Generation Campus,” said OJA Executive Director Rachel Holt. “Our new campus, while providing a safe setting for our juveniles and staff, is being built to facilitate rehabilitation through our treatment programs. When the next Generation Campus opens, Oklahoma will lead the nation in facility design and physical plant, but our goal is to also lead the nation in the services and outcomes happening in those buildings. Bryan will lead that charge for our staff and residents.”
Hiel begins his new duties Nov. 16. Holt announced his hiring during today’s monthly OJA board meeting.
While at ODMHSAS, he also provided program oversight for both therapeutic options and clinical oversight for collaborative assessment for the management of suicide. He is the only certified master trainer for therapeutic options in Oklahoma. Before joining ODMHSAS, Hiel was director of operations for the Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center and the Urgent Recovery Center.
He has experience in both rural/urban mental health outpatient, Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) services, residential, administration/program design and crisis services. He earned a Master’s of Arts degree in marriage and family therapy and one in education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a third Master’s of Arts in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma.
Hiel has been married for more than 22 years to his wife, Cindy. They have two sons.
New cottages on the Next Generation Campus will feature individual rooms with high-ceiling day rooms full of natural colors. Each resident will have a bedroom with a window. Research supports natural lighting as being extremely therapeutic. The units at COJC now are open-dorm style with very little natural lighting. The new campus also will offer space and landscaping designed for walking and talking. The athletic fields also will be updated.
“I appreciate the opportunity to develop and guide the staff at this state-of-the-art facility to provide effective treatment for our residents,” Hiel said. “I look forward to helping establish the Next Generation Campus to provide secure, juvenile justice services in a setting specifically built to provide rehabilitation for young people needing this level of care.”
The project is part of a plan that includes consolidating OJA’s secure-care facilities for juveniles in a modern campus at COJC, which has buildings more than 100 years old. OJA in 2018 closed its facility for females in Norman and moved those operations to Tecumseh. Males at Southwestern Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Manitou will be moved to Tecumseh when the new campus is completed. As part of the legislation authorizing the Tecumseh project, OJA is working with the governor and the Legislature to propose an alternative use for the Manitou campus.
COJC is on 30 acres of a nearly 150-acre plat and has long been in need of an update. The campus first opened in 1907 and has gone through many transformations over the years. Previously, it was known as the Russell Industrial School, Oklahoma State Industrial School for Incorrigible Girls, the State Industrial School for White Girls, Girls Town and the Central Oklahoma Juvenile Treatment Center.
At various times, it has housed orphans, children in need of mental health treatment, and youth adjudicated as delinquent and/or youthful offenders.
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For additional information, contact:
Michael McNutt / Communications Director
at (405) 530-2860 (office) or (405) 249-6072 (cell)
michael.mcnutt@oja.ok.gov
Paula Christiansen / Public Information Officer
at (405) 530-2814 (office) or (405) 620-6483 (cell)
paula.christiansen@oja.ok.gov
