Mental Health Center of Dane County celebrates 60 years
On the cutting edge
On the cutting edge
Another contributing factor was the movement during the 1960s and 1970s to deinstitutionalize people with mental illness. “The whole idea behind the
mental health center act was to move people out of institutions, give them the opportunity to receive services in the community in less restrictive settings than
had traditionally been the case so that people didn’t languish for years in in-patient settings, cut off from livelihoods, family and other things,” Greer said. “At the
same time, psychotropic medications, medications that had a positive effect on psychotic symptoms, were being developed. This was a benefit because it
enabled out-patient treatment to become more viable as a way of working with people who had serious mental illness. The medications would calm or eliminate
the symptoms and then people could address the issues of socialization and living and working in the community without being disruptive.”
In response to this movement, Dr. Len Stein and Mary Ann Test created PACT, the Program of Assertive Community Treatment, which became a national
model for providing community-based mental health services. “Their thought was ‘If we can provide an individual with enough support in the community, we
might be able to prevent them from going back to the hospital over and over again as has been the case in the past,’” Greer said. “With people who can respond
24 hours per day, seven days per week to mental health emergencies, individuals could stay out in the community and not be rehospitalized every time they
have a psychotic episode or every time they go off their medication. There would be a team surrounding them that would respond to those emergencies, get
them back on medications, intervene with their landlord or whomever and keep them in the community. Our community support programs are sons and
daughters of that.”
The third movement that affected how mental health services are provided was the consumer movement. Previously, the mental health field assumed that
the professionals knew best and every aspect of the consumer’s being was affected by the mental illness. “Over time, consumers have become much more vocal
in saying ‘We want a hand in how our services are designed and administered,’” Greer said. “And there is a consumer movement now all across the country where
folks who have these illnesses are impacting research, the way clinics are set up, who works in those clinics among other things. And I think that has been a very
positive advancement. It has happened because folks who have lived with these diseases have a lot of insight and knowledge about what works in treating them.”
While as before people were institutionalized, the way people with mental illness were perceived was turned inside out. “The assumption was the illness was the
huge thing and the person was buried somewhere in the middle of it,” Greer said. “And the consumer movement switched that 180 degrees so that now the
mental illness is just a part of the person, which the individual can control, deal with and overcome, just as if it were a heart condition or diabetes or a physical
ailment of some type.”
mental health center act was to move people out of institutions, give them the opportunity to receive services in the community in less restrictive settings than
had traditionally been the case so that people didn’t languish for years in in-patient settings, cut off from livelihoods, family and other things,” Greer said. “At the
same time, psychotropic medications, medications that had a positive effect on psychotic symptoms, were being developed. This was a benefit because it
enabled out-patient treatment to become more viable as a way of working with people who had serious mental illness. The medications would calm or eliminate
the symptoms and then people could address the issues of socialization and living and working in the community without being disruptive.”
In response to this movement, Dr. Len Stein and Mary Ann Test created PACT, the Program of Assertive Community Treatment, which became a national
model for providing community-based mental health services. “Their thought was ‘If we can provide an individual with enough support in the community, we
might be able to prevent them from going back to the hospital over and over again as has been the case in the past,’” Greer said. “With people who can respond
24 hours per day, seven days per week to mental health emergencies, individuals could stay out in the community and not be rehospitalized every time they
have a psychotic episode or every time they go off their medication. There would be a team surrounding them that would respond to those emergencies, get
them back on medications, intervene with their landlord or whomever and keep them in the community. Our community support programs are sons and
daughters of that.”
The third movement that affected how mental health services are provided was the consumer movement. Previously, the mental health field assumed that
the professionals knew best and every aspect of the consumer’s being was affected by the mental illness. “Over time, consumers have become much more vocal
in saying ‘We want a hand in how our services are designed and administered,’” Greer said. “And there is a consumer movement now all across the country where
folks who have these illnesses are impacting research, the way clinics are set up, who works in those clinics among other things. And I think that has been a very
positive advancement. It has happened because folks who have lived with these diseases have a lot of insight and knowledge about what works in treating them.”
While as before people were institutionalized, the way people with mental illness were perceived was turned inside out. “The assumption was the illness was the
huge thing and the person was buried somewhere in the middle of it,” Greer said. “And the consumer movement switched that 180 degrees so that now the
mental illness is just a part of the person, which the individual can control, deal with and overcome, just as if it were a heart condition or diabetes or a physical
ailment of some type.”
| Mental Health Center of Dane County Executive Director William Greer |
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
The Mental Health Center of Dane County (MHCDC) has come a long ways since November 1948 when it
was established at 22 N. Hancock St. as a primarily fee-based child guidance clinic that first brought mental
health services into the community with a psychiatrist, psychologist and two social workers, all of whom were part-
time. Since then, it has grown into a multi-site, 359 member staff service agency that serves approximately
10,000 people on an annual basis.
There have been several movements during the years that have shaped the agency and empowered it to
provide effective services. The first came during the Kennedy Administration during the early 1960s. “The
Community Mental Health Center Act enabled groups all across the country to establish mental health centers
with government funding backing,” said William Greer, MHCDC’s executive director who has been with the
agency for 33 of its 60 years. “That was basically the event that caused mental health centers to explode across
the country. This mental health center grew out of that movement. During the 1960s, we began the expansion
by offering services to single adults as well as children and families. Subsequently, we brought in alcohol and
drug services so that individuals could get services for both mental health and substance abuse problems under
the same roof.”
Part 1 of 2
The Mental Health Center of Dane County (MHCDC) has come a long ways since November 1948 when it
was established at 22 N. Hancock St. as a primarily fee-based child guidance clinic that first brought mental
health services into the community with a psychiatrist, psychologist and two social workers, all of whom were part-
time. Since then, it has grown into a multi-site, 359 member staff service agency that serves approximately
10,000 people on an annual basis.
There have been several movements during the years that have shaped the agency and empowered it to
provide effective services. The first came during the Kennedy Administration during the early 1960s. “The
Community Mental Health Center Act enabled groups all across the country to establish mental health centers
with government funding backing,” said William Greer, MHCDC’s executive director who has been with the
agency for 33 of its 60 years. “That was basically the event that caused mental health centers to explode across
the country. This mental health center grew out of that movement. During the 1960s, we began the expansion
by offering services to single adults as well as children and families. Subsequently, we brought in alcohol and
drug services so that individuals could get services for both mental health and substance abuse problems under
the same roof.”
