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Annual Report 2001-02

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 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.

"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.

Psychiatrist Joins Staff
Nabila L. Sargius, M.D. joined the medical staff at HSC. Dr. Sargius provides psychiatric services for adult clients of the Center. She acquired her M.D. degree from Ain Sharus University in Cairo and completed her residency at St. Francis Medical Center in Pittsburgh.

Clip Bits

  • Initiated a Mobile Medication Service to help clients manage their medications

  • Received 14 Section 8 Subsidies from HUD to develop and operate a 14-bed SRO (Single Room Occupancy) facility for homeless adults

  • Relocated 42 staff members into office space in the Center’s newly renovated Grant Street properties

  • Opened an 8-bed facility for homeless adults in need of long-term housing

(theme):
Building a Child’s Self-esteem

Every child has one or two subjects that are better than the rest. Praise these and encourage the others.

The key question after a game is not, "Did you win?" but, "Did you have fun?" A reduced importance on winning helps build self-confidence.

To expect a girl who is a poor swimmer to "come home with a medal" is unfair. Let her swim for fun.

Love, security and acceptance are at the heart of developing self-confidence. Triumphs and defeats should be expected and accepted.

If you have a healthy outlook towards winning and success, your children will probably follow your example. Encourage less achievement and more lighthearted enjoyment.

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