State’s First Comprehensive Pediatric Behavioral Health Center Receives Generous Investment from James M. Cox Foundation

The Oklahoma Children’s OU Health Behavioral Health Center — part of OU Health, the University of Oklahoma’s academic health system — has received a $750,000 grant from the James M. Cox Foundation to help expand access to specialized behavioral health care for children and adolescents across Oklahoma, where demand continues to grow.

“This investment from the James M. Cox Foundation reflects a shared belief that every child deserves access to the mental health support they need to thrive,” said Jennifer Schultz Kouandjio, MBA, Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, OU Health. “This gift allows us to reach more children and families across Oklahoma at some of the most important moments in their lives. We are deeply grateful for this collaboration and for the foundation’s continued investment in the health of our state’s children.”

The Oklahoma Children’s OU Health Behavioral Health Center will be the state’s first pediatric facility to offer comprehensive, evidence-based mental health services in one location. A team focused exclusively on pediatric behavioral health will care for patients, including those with complex cases requiring specialty and subspecialty expertise.

Set to open in December 2026 on the OU Health campus in Oklahoma City, the more than 172,000-square-foot, three-story facility will have two floors dedicated to inpatient care, along with psychiatric evaluation and treatment, outpatient therapy, and family support services.

As the state’s only comprehensive children’s hospital, Oklahoma Children’s is uniquely positioned to reduce barriers and connect children and adolescents to treatment earlier, when it can have the greatest impact.

A Growing Need

Oklahoma children and adolescents face a growing mental health crisis marked by high rates of untreated conditions and limited access to care:

• 1 in 5 children struggles to cope with mental or behavioral challenges, including depression, anxiety, mood disorders and post-traumatic stress.¹
• 29.6% of students reported that “their mental health was not good most of the time or always.”²
• Every week, two young people ages 10–24 take their own lives; suicide is the second-leading cause of death in this age group.³
• Rates of suicide are higher in rural areas and among Native American youth.⁴

“Supporting the health and well-being of children is one of the most meaningful ways we can invest in the future of our communities,” said Katy Boren, Cox Communications market vice president, Oklahoma City. “I want to thank the James M. Cox Foundation for investing in a resource that will help so many Oklahoma children and families get the high-quality care they need close to home.”

The grant will support expanded capacity and growth of the clinical team, helping the Behavioral Health Center reach more young people and families statewide. The facility will also provide more than 400 clinical and non-clinical jobs.

This investment builds on Cox Communications’ decades-long commitment to serving Oklahoma communities. Through the James M. Cox Foundation, the company has a longstanding history of investing in programs focused on children, education and community health across the markets Cox Communications serves.

Philanthropic partnerships like this one are essential to OU Health’s mission of improving the health of Oklahomans, particularly in high-demand specialties such as pediatric behavioral health. Together, OU Health and the James M. Cox Foundation are helping ensure that children and families across the state have greater access to the behavioral health care they need, closer to home.