Annual Report - Fiscal Year 2000-2001

Dennis W. Nebel, Psy. D.
Executive Director

Board of Directors

Susan Miller
President

Gary F. Lynch, Esq.
Vice President

Minerva S. Rapp
Secretary

Condi Augustine
Treasurer

Robert E. Jamison, Esq.
Director Emeritus

John DeCaro, Ph.D.
Dale R. Duboskas
Wilbert Grossman
Kenneth Huddle
Daniel Levine
Walter Luikart
Paul Lynch, Esq.
William McTaggart, Ph.D.
Roy Meehan
Thomas A. Shumaker, Esq.
Marlene Stoddard
Arthur Zarone

The Behavioral Healthcare services in the community may indeed be taken for granted by many of you. Our community’s broad continuum of services that includes outpatient, medication management, in-home interventions for children and families, school-based initiatives, case management, crisis intervention services and specialized residential services are an anomaly in many countries throughout the world. I had the honor of being a member of a mental health delegation that visited China this past spring (2001). The purpose of the visit was to exchange information regarding the treatment of the mentally ill in our respective countries. In short, China’s treatment of the mentally ill is 1950’s psychiatry! It is almost exclusively treatment via medications alone under the auspices of psychiatrists with the support of nurses. Other professional disciplines such as social work or psychology are non-existent outside of select university or academic settings. Community systems of care providing services that are non-hospital-based are simply outside of China’s frame of reference. I left in awe of what we have available here in the U.S. While we still must fight for parity regarding insurance coverage for behavioral health treatments and struggle with the misinformation and stereotypes that prevail even today regarding behavioral health disorders, we can be proud of systems of care existent in communities like ours. These are systems that insure people can live constructive, high quality lives in their home communities rather than the hospital-based models of years gone by.

Dennis W. Nebel, Psy.D.
Executive Director

"Bold New Approach"
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 38 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 97% in a recent survey believing that the services they received helped them with their problem(s). 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 11 in 2001. HSC has developed self-help groups for problems including gambling, Alzheimer’s Disease, ADHD, autism, grief, and depression. They’ve conducted educational programs on mental health problems to inform the public and to reduce the stigma of mental illness. HSC is committed to the original objectives of the Community Mental Health Act and feels, in large measure, that the "bold new approach" to mental health care has been realized in Lawrence County.

Grant Street Transformation
The Center initiated the "Grant Street Project" during 2001. This project involves the purchase and renovation of six contiguous buildings in New Castle’s Historic North Hill. When completed, the buildings will be used to provide permanent housing for homeless adults, a drop-in center for chronically mentally ill clients, a psychosocial rehabilitation program, six studio apartments, and office space for staff. The Center raised $529,800 in public and private monies to support this significant community effort.

Clip Bits

HUD property
The Center’s Oakview housing project was recognized as one of HUD’s top performing properties. Westfield, a joint effort venture with St. Francis Hospital of New Castle, was also recognized by HUD.

MH Service provided to Beaver County
Outpatient mental health services were initiated in Beaver County. Additional services, including a partial hospitalization program for adolescents, are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2001.

Inpatient Unit initiates new model
A new staffing model for providing psychiatric care for the inpatient unit at St. Francis Hospital of New Castle was implemented. The new model involves expanding the number of board-certified psychiatrists who are available to provide psychiatric care, thus ensuring that the inpatient unit is adequately staffed.

Services extended to Beaver Valley
The Human Services Center began collaborating with Drug and Alcohol Services of Beaver Valley (DASBV) to expand the delivery of behavioral health care. This would enhance and expand the HSC continuum of care to include the provision of Drug and Alcohol Services in both Lawrence and Beaver Counties.

The Human Services Center is...
...a comprehensive community mental health center that employs 175 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 of Commerce’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.
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.