Community Mental Health Act Explained

Shorttitle:Community Mental Health Act
Othershorttitles:Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963
Longtitle:An Act to provide assistance in combating mental retardation through grants for construction of research centers and grants for facilities for the mentally retarded and assistance in improving mental health through grants for construction of community mental health centers, and for other purposes.
Nickname:Community Mental Health Act of 1963
Enacted By:88th
Effective Date:October 31, 1963
Public Law Url:http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-77/pdf/STATUTE-77-Pg282.pdf
Cite Public Law:88-164
Title Amended:42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare
Introducedin:Senate
Introducedby:J. Lister Hill (D–AL)
Introduceddate:May 21, 1963
Committees:Senate Labor and Public Welfare, House Interstate and foreign Commerce
Passedbody1:Senate
Passeddate1:May 27, 1963
Passedvote1:72-1
Passedbody2:House
Passeddate2:September 10, 1963
Passedvote2:335-18
Conferencedate:October 21, 1963
Passedbody3:Senate
Passeddate3:October 21, 1963
Passedvote3:agreed
Passedbody4:House
Passeddate4:October 21, 1963
Passedvote4:299-13
Signedpresident:John F. Kennedy
Signeddate:October 31, 1963

The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA) (also known as the Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act, Mental Retardation Facilities and Construction Act, Public Law 88-164, or the Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963) was an act to provide federal funding for community mental health centers and research facilities in the United States. This legislation was passed as part of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier.[1] It led to considerable deinstitutionalization.

In 1955, Congress passed the Mental Health Study Act, leading to the establishment of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Mental Health. That Commission issued a report in 1961,[2] which would become the basis of the 1963 Act.[3]

The CMHA provided grants to states for the establishment of local mental health centers, under the overview of the National Institute of Mental Health. The NIH also conducted a study involving adequacy in mental health issues. The purpose of the CMHA was to build mental health centers to provide for community-based care, as an alternative to institutionalization. At the centers, patients could be treated while working and living at home.

Only half of the proposed centers were ever built; none was fully funded, and the act didn't provide money to operate them long-term. Some states closed expensive state hospitals, but never spent money to establish community-based care. Deinstitutionalization accelerated after the adoption of Medicaid in 1965. During the Reagan administration, the remaining funding for the act was converted into a mental-health block grants for states. Since the CMHA was enacted, 90 percent of beds have been cut at state hospitals, but they have not been replaced by community resources.[4]

The CMHA proved to be a mixed success. Many patients, formerly warehoused in institutions, were released into the community. However, not all communities have had the facilities or expertise to deal with them.[5] In many cases, patients wound up in adult homes or with their families, or homeless in large cities,[6] [7] and without the mental health care they needed.[8] Without community support, mentally ill people have more trouble getting treatment, maintaining medication regimens, and supporting themselves. They make up a large proportion of the homeless and an increasing proportion of people in jail.

See also

Notes

  1. John F. . Kennedy . John F. Kennedy . Remarks on signing mental retardation facilities and community health centers construction bill . 31 October 1963 . White House Cabinet Room, Washington, DC . Signing S. 1576, the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 . John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum . JFKPOF-047-045 .
  2. Web site: History of the Organization and the Movement . Mental Health America . 2008-10-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081030043943/http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/index.cfm?objectId=DA2F000D-1372-4D20-C8882D19A97973AA . dead .
  3. Web site: Michael B. . Friedman . 8 April 2004 . 2002 . Think About the Next 25 Years: Advice for the President's Commission on Mental Health . NAMI SCC . National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Santa Cruz County . 2008-05-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080509064646/http://www.namiscc.org/Editorial/2002/FederalMentalHealthCarePolicy.htm . dead .
  4. News: Smith . Michelle R. . 50 years later, Kennedy’s vision for mental health not realized . The Seattle Times . The Associated Press . 20 October 2013 . 2013-10-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131023010233/http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2022091710_mentalhealthxml.html . dead .
  5. Web site: History of Public Mental Health in California and the U.S. . Center for Mental Health Services Research . The University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco . 2007-05-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070525210036/http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~cmhsr/history.html . dead .
  6. Scanlon, John, "Homelessness: Describing the Symptoms, Prescribing a Cure", The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder #729, October 2, 1989
  7. Rubin . Lillian B. . Sand Castles and Snake Pits: Homelessness, Public Policy, and the Law of Unintended Consequences . . Fall 2007 . subscription .
  8. Web site: Friedman . Michael B. . 2003 . Keeping The Promise of Community Mental Health . 2004-06-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040623200438/http://mhawestchester.org/advocates/opromise81303.asp . Mental Health Association of Westchester . 8 August 2003 . dead .

Further reading

External links

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