The Missouri Department of Mental Health serves Missourians by working to prevent substance abuse, mental disorders, and developmental disabilities; by rehabilitating, treating, and habilitating persons with those conditions; and by educating the public about mental health.

The department benefits from the counsel of a seven-member citizen commission, which makes major policy and budgetary decisions for the department, including hiring the director. The members of the Mental Health Commission, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, are selected for their concerns and expertise in the various facets of mental health care.

The department is divided into three program divisions and five offices that support the work of the program divisions. The department operates 29 facilities and contracts with more than 1,000 private agencies to provide community-based care.

Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse plans and funds an array of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs for alcohol- and drug-dependent Missourians and provides outpatient treatment services to compulsive gamblers and their families. The division operates no facilities of its own, but instead contracts with community agencies and mental health centers to provide detoxification services, residential and non-residential services and prevention programs.

Division of Comprehensive Psychiatric Services is responsible for assuring the availability of prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation services for individuals and families requiring public mental health services. The division operates three long-term and three acute-care facilities. One additional facility has both a long-term and acute program. In addition, the division operates one children's psychiatric hospital and one children's residential center.

Division of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities plans and provides direct services and contracts with other agencies to serve a clientele with such developmental disabilities as mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, and learning disabilities. The division operates six habilitation centers and 12 regional centers. The regional centers serve as the entry and exit points for receiving the division's services.

All of the departments in Missouri state government contain at least one administrative division or unit which provides support in fiscal management, accounting, personnel and training, research and data processing. Because of similarity of these duties and because each department only has one page of print space, these units are not described in detail.

For more information on these divisions, contact the department director.