"We can’t underestimate the role of community mental health
centers, such as HSC..."
HSC received a regional award from the National Association of Housing
and Redevelopment Officials for the Grant Street Project. The Center helped
establish a support group for family and friends of individuals who have
committed suicide. The support group meets at the Center on a regular
basis.
HUD awarded the Human Services Center a grant of approximately $240,000
to provide permanent housing for homeless adults who have a history of
mental illness. Staff of HSC were invited to speak at a statewide conference
on housing. The focus of the presentation was on innovative approaches
to funding housing initiatives. Westfield, a residential and treatment
program for adults with developmental disabilities, became a program of
HSC. (Previously, it was under the auspices of another corporation.)
In 1963, President Kennedy’s Community Mental Health Act sought to make
mental health services more accessible and to reduce our nation’s use
of state mental institutions. This "bold new approach" of 40 years ago
seems only logical today. However, we can’t underestimate the role of
community mental health centers, such as HSC to...
- educate people about mental health problems,
- provide affordable, timely, and accessible care,
- respond to people when they face a crisis, and
- reduce the stigma of mental illness.
For more than
40 years, the Human Services Center has developed such programs to meet
the mental health needs of the community.
Each year, over 1,000 residents seek our services with 98% in a recent
survey believing that the services they received helped them with their
problem(s). At any given time HSC serves in excess of 3,000 residents
of our community. HSC has developed comprehensive services for the seriously
mentally ill individual -- reducing the number of Lawrence County residents
in a state mental institution from 363 in 1963, to 6 in 2004. We’ve developed
self-help groups for problems including gambling, Alzheimer’s Disease,
ADHD, autism, grief, and depression. We’ve also organized educational
programs on mental health problems to inform the public and to reduce
the stigma of mental illness. We’re committed to the original objectives
of the Community Mental Health Act and feel, in large measure, that the
"bold new approach" to mental health care has been realized in Lawrence
County.
HSC is...
...a comprehensive community mental health center that
employs 200 behavioral health care professionals and support personnel.
We are the region’s largest provider of outpatient
mental health services.
Our staff is represented by AFSCME 2902 which has collaborated with the
Center to engage in mutual problem solving, preserve and promote the well-being
of our employees, and enhance the quality of our services.
The clinical staff is comprised of licensed social workers and psychologists,
board-certified psychiatrists, master’s level therapists, and psychiatric
nurses.
The Center has received numerous awards and legislative citations. HSC
was a recipient of the Lawrence County Chamber’s "Business
of the Year" award in 1997.
The Center has the most comprehensive array of housing options of any
community mental health center in Western Pennsylvania. A National Award
of Merit was given to HSC by the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment
Officials for its SRO Housing program. HSC has also been recognized by
HUD and has received Best Practices’ awards.
By providing community-based care for individuals with serious mental
illness and thereby avoiding long and expensive stays in state mental
institutions, the Center has saved taxpayers millions of dollars each
year.
HSC organizes educational programs, develops support groups, participates
in health fairs, makes presentations to community groups, and distributes
information on a wide variety of mental health topics.
"Our Center has assumed a leadership position within the county to
pursue programs that enhance the quality of life of area residents."
|