The status of community mental health centers ten years into Block Grant financing

Abstract

This study tracks the 761 community mental health centers which received federal grants as of 1981 and assesses their status 10 years after the shift to Block Grant financing. Contrary to what had been predicted (Biegel, 1982), the vast majority of centers remained open (88.3%), a small proportion were involved in mergers (8.5%) and an even smaller percentage closed (3.3%). No pattern was evident as to which centers closed or merged by type of initial funding, although some states showed a concentration of mergers and closures. Data from the 1988 Inventory of Mental Health Organizations are used to characterize the centers still in operation by facility type, ownership, service mix and revenue mix. In 1988, federally funded CMHCs accounted for 34% of the total patient episodes treated and 22.7% of the total revenues reported by specialty mental health providers in the United States.