The Oklahoma City Council voted to name the MAPS 4 Mental Health Crisis Center in honor of Robert “Bob” Ravitz, the late Oklahoma County Chief Public Defender who served for over three decades. The Robert Ravitz Crisis Center will receive $12.27 million in MAPS 4 funding, with the Arnall Family Foundation contributing an additional $2.35 million.
The facility will provide emergency assessments, stabilization services, and connections to ongoing mental health support. Located at 1200 NE 13th Street on the OU Health Sciences Center campus, the center will be operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, with groundbreaking scheduled for spring 2026. According to MAPS Program Manager David Todd, “The MAPS 4 investment in a crisis center is the result of decades of hard work by advocates like Ravitz who recognized that our community needs expanded access to mental health resources.”
Ravitz became chief public defender in 1987 and won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case strengthening protections for mentally incompetent defendants. He died January 23, 2024, leaving a lasting impact on Oklahoma City’s legal and mental health systems.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://journalrecord.com/2025/11/21/okc-maps4-robert-ravitz-mental-health-crisis-center/