MAPS 4 mental health crisis center to be named for longtime public defender Robert Ravitz

Oklahoma City’s MAPS 4 Mental Health Crisis Center will carry the name of Robert “Bob” Ravitz, honoring the late Oklahoma County chief public defender whose decades of work reshaped the region’s approach to mental health, justice and access to care. The City Council voted to dedicate the facility in his memory, formalizing the name as the Robert Ravitz Crisis Center. 

The new center represents a major MAPS 4 investment in community mental health and crisis response. The program dedicates $12.27 million to build the facility, with an additional $2.35 million from the Arnall Family Foundation. Together, the funds will support a modern crisis response hub offering emergency assessments, stabilization and direct connections to longer-term support. The center will be operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS). 

MAPS Program Manager David Todd said the project reflects the decades of advocacy Ravitz championed. “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,” Todd said. “This center represents the kind of lasting investment he championed—one that builds a better city and community for all.” 

A program built around long-term community investment 

The crisis center is a component of MAPS 4, the voter-approved, debt-free improvement program funded by a temporary one-cent sales tax. MAPS 4 is projected to raise $1.07 billion over eight years, with more than 70% of funding directed toward neighborhood and human-needs projects. The sales tax began in April 2020 and will continue through 2028. 

Planning and oversight fall to the MAPS 4 Citizens Advisory Board and its subcommittees, which make recommendations to the City Council. The MAPS Investment and Operating Trust guides long-term operational and maintenance funding across the program’s projects. 

State partnership expanding access to mental health support 

ODMHSAS Interim Commissioner Greg Slavonic said the new center strengthens the state and city’s shared commitment to crisis response. “Caring for those affected by mental illness and substance use takes a united community effort,” Slavonic said. “Through our partnership with the City of Oklahoma City on the new MAPS 4 Crisis Center, we honor Mr. Ravitz’s legacy and strengthen the support network for Oklahomans who need it most.” 

The city has identified a site at 1200 NE 13th St. on the east side of the OU Health Sciences Center campus. A land purchase agreement is underway, and groundbreaking is expected in spring 2026. 

A legacy defined by advocacy and justice 

Ravitz served as chief public defender beginning in 1987, leading the office for more than 30 years and becoming one of the state’s most influential voices for constitutional rights and mental-health-informed criminal justice. He was twice appointed to the Office of Juvenile Affairs board and taught trial practice, criminal procedure and capital litigation as an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law. 

His landmark victory in the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case Cooper v. Oklahoma strengthened due-process protections for defendants deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial. The ruling became a touchstone in national conversations around mental health and criminal justice. He later received the Oklahoma Defense Lawyers Association’s Clarence Darrow Award for his work. 

Ravitz died on Jan. 23, 2024, but his impact endures in courtrooms, classrooms and advocacy networks across Oklahoma. The Robert Ravitz Crisis Center is expected to stand as a lasting testament to his belief that every person deserves dignity, fairness and access to care.