Richard White is the Housing Programs Manager for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. His public service background includes serving on the staff of a Member of the U.S. Congress, contracting at the Federal Aviation Administration, contracting for the Department of Defense in Afghanistan, and serving in the Oklahoma Army National Guard and United States Air Force.  

As Housing Program Manager he is responsible for overseeing transitional living and permanent supportive housing programs for individuals experiencing homelessness while struggling with mental illness and/or substance use disorders. His key duties include consultation, training, and technical assistance for contracted providers, community stakeholders, partner organizations, and other state agencies. He leads the development of housing initiatives based on best practices to improve housing stability and recovery outcomes for vulnerable populations.

He has experience in forming and overseeing lived experience boards, youth street outreach, shelter case management, grant writing, and implementing innovative housing programs such as host homes.

He is a member of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth’s Homeless Children and Youth Steering Committee and Policy Subcommittee. He serves as volunteer advisor to the Oklahoma City Youth Action Board—a coalition of youth advocates with lived expertise in homelessness and housing insecurity. He is a member of the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work.

Richard is a Master of Social Work student at Missouri State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Oklahoma.