The
Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration defines a
mental health organization as an administratively distinct public or
private agency or institution whose primary concern is the provision
of direct mental health services to the mentally ill or emotionally
disturbed. Excluded are private office-based practices of psychiatrists,
psychologists, and other mental health providers; psychiatric
services of all types of hospitals or outpatient clinics operated by
Federal agencies other than the Department of Veterans Affairs (for
example, Public Health Service, Indian Health Service, Department of
Defense, and Bureau of Prisons); general hospitals that have no separate
psychiatric services, but admit psychiatric patients to nonpsychiatric
units; and psychiatric services of schools, colleges, halfway houses,
community residential organizations, local and county jails, State
prisons, and other human service providers. The major types of mental
health organizations are described below. Freestanding
psychiatric outpatient clinics provide only outpatient
services on either a regular or emergency basis. A
psychiatristgenerally
assumes the medical responsibility for services. Psychiatric
hospitals(public
or private) primarily provide 24-hour inpatient care and treatment in a
hospital setting to persons with mental illnesses. Psychiatric hospitals
may be under State, county, private for profit, or private nonprofit
auspices. General
hospitals providing separate psychiatric servicesprovide
psychiatric services with assigned staff for 24-hour inpatient or
residential care and/or less than 24-hour outpatient care in a separate
ward, unit, floor, or wing of the hospital. Department
of Veterans Affairs medical centersare
hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (formerly
Veterans Administration) and include Department of Veterans Affairs
general hospital psychiatric services (including large neuropsychiatric
units) and Department of Veterans Affairs psychiatric outpatient clinics. Residential
treatment centers for emotionally disturbed childrenmust
meet all of the following criteria: (a) provide 24-hour residential
services; (b) are not licensed as a psychiatric hospital and have the
primary purpose of providing individually planned mental health treatment
services in conjunction with residential care; (c) include a clinical
program directed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or
psychiatric nurse with a graduate degree; (d) serve children and youth
primarily under the age of 18; and (e) have the primary diagnosis as
mental illness, classified as other than mental retardation, developmental
disability, or substance-related disorders, according to DSM-II/ICDA-8 or
DSM-IIIR/ICD-9-CM codes, for the majority of admissions. Multiservice
mental health organizations provide services in
both 24-hour and less than 24-hour settings and
are not classifiable as a psychiatric hospital, general hospital,
or residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed
children. (The classification of a psychiatric or general hospital or a
residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children takes
precedence over a multiservice classification, even if
two or more services are offered.) Partial
care organizations provide a program of
ambulatory mental
health services or rehabilitation, habitation, or
educational programs.