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1st Hospital for the Mentally Ill
First state hospital for the Mentally Ill in the United States opens in Williamsburg, Virginia. Before this, mentally ill patients we mainly cared for by families or in poorhouses what also provided for people with contagious diseases or physical/cognitive disabilities. -
Development of Institutions with Humane Treatments
In Paris, a physician named Philipe Pinel made headlines by removing the chains around mentally ill patients. A Quaker religious community then provided the funds to William Tuke to develop an institution for the Mentally Ill with humane treatments and without the use of chains. -
Maltreatment of Mentally Ill People
An activist, Dorothea Lynde Dix, discovered that many institutions were starving and abusing mentally ill people. Her hard work paid off and the Legislation of Massachusetts passed authorization to build a hospital to treat the mentally ill. -
Deterioration of Humane Treatments
Conditions in state hospitals were investigated. Reformers demand the proper care for those who are mentally ill. -
1st Social Worker to Work With the Mentally Ill
Mary Antoinette Cannon was hired by the Massachusetts General Hospital to work with mentally ill patients. -
Clifford Beers
Clifford Beers wrote a book about his personal struggles with mental illness. His work captured the attention of the public and professionals. He eventually founded the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene and assisted in the development of the mental hygiene movement globally. -
Mary Jarrett
Mary Jarrett was employed as the 1st director of social services at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, where she is said to have come up with the term 'psychiatric social worker', which today is known as clinical social worker. -
The effects of World War I
World War I (lasting from 1914-1918) caused many battle casualties not only physical, but also psychological. 'Shell Shock' was the term to describe psychiatric casualties among troops. -
Training Programs for Mental Health Social Workers
Mary Jarrett recognized the need for Mental health staff, including social workers. She created a training program for those to enter this field, which is now the Smith College School for Social Work. -
Freudian Theory
Sigmund Freud's theory on mental illness was popularized in 1920s-1930s, which allowed many mental clinics to hire social workers to provide psychotherapy. -
The American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers
The AAPSW was founded and eventually merged with other social work organizations to form the NASW in 1955 -
World War II Begins
The army created officer-level positions for Mental health social workers which allowed these social workers to function on military neuropsychiatric teams. This expanded mental health social services for the military and their families. -
End of War Effects
Military and VA hospitals became the largest employers of professional social workers, and they remain so today. -
National Mental Health Act
The first major mental health act passed by the U.S. government. The act provided federal funding for research, training, and demonstration projects to help States develop programs for the prevention and treatment of mental illness. -
National Institute of Mental Health
The founding and creation of the NIMH had a major impact on the development of state mental health programs. -
The Community Mental Health Construction Act
Strongly supported by President JFK, the act provided grants for the construction of community mental health facilities to provide care for those people who were released from hospitals that treated people for chronic mental illness. -
The National Alliance on Mental Illness
NAMI was founded with the goal of improving the lives of those with mental illness and their families. -
The Federal Mental Health Systems Act
Attempted to address the result of deinstitutionalization. To address the needs of thousands of people who were homeless and needing follow-up care, the Act formally authorized the use of case management. -
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act
Significantly shifted the federal government away from its leadership role in mental health services. It effectively repealed the Mental Health Systems Act and shifted responsibility for funding and future developments of mental health programs to the individual states in the form of block grants. However, most states had already closed or reduced their mental health facilities. -
President Bill Clinton
The Election of Bill Clinton signaled a new approach to health care financing. -
1st Mental Health Parity Act
NASW was one of the sponsors of the act to be passed. -
Suicide Hotline
Poorly funded and relatively small hotline for those with suicidal thoughts was created. -
Federal Mental Parity and Addiction Equity Act
Extended coverage to care for mental health and addiction disorders. This law required health insurance plans to provide equivalence between mental health and physical health coverage. -
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Health care reform law (ACA) was written and to be fully implemented in 2019 -
Trump Administration
Succeeded in ending the ACA mandate that required all U.S. citizens to enroll in a health insurance plan. This was a loss for the masses of people seeking to obtain health care coverage for all Americans. -
National Suicide Designation Act
Call volumes had risen to 3.3 million contacts per year. -
Biden Administration
A priority for the Biden Administration was to expand access to the ACA. The administration celebrated when a Supreme Court ruling ended future challenges to the constitutionality of the ACA. -
988
The Suicide Hotline was officially implemented with an easy to remember 3-digit number: 988. All telecommunication providers were required to activate 988. -
Parity for Mental Health Care
According to a report to Congress, concerns have been cited related to insurance companies' financial charges, such as co-payments and the requirement for pre-authorization demands that routinely greater for people with mental health or substance use disorders, than for other medical or surgical care.