Community Mental Health Centers Act
By the 1960’s, state psychiatric hospitals across the country were facing significant overcrowding.
In 1963, the Community Mental Health Centers Act was signed into federal law leading to the creation of Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC).
These centers were required to provide a full array of community based services targeted to persons with the most serious mental disorders.
However, the CMHC’s were inadequately funded and often focused on those with less severe illnesses who could be served on a limited time, short-term basis rather than those for whom the Act was designed.
At the same time, many states were downsizing their psychiatric hospitals without adequate funding or services in the community.
This deinstitutionalization movement begins to shift the focus on community-based mental health services. Many fault this deinstitutionalization movement with the growth of homelessness, jailings/imprisonment, excessive emergency room visits and repeated hospitalizations of persons with serious mental illnesses.