Volunteer
S.C. DEPARTMENT Updated 9-16-13 |
S.C. Department of Mental Health
To support the recovery of people with mental illnesses. OUR PRIORITIES The S.C. Department of Mental Health gives priority to adults, children, and their families affected by serious mental illnesses and significant emotional disorders. We are committed to eliminating stigma and promoting the philosophy of recovery, to achieving our goals in collaboration with all stakeholders, and to assuring the highest quality of culturally competent services possible. OUR VALUES Each person who receives our services will be treated with respect and dignity, and will be a partner in achieving recovery. We commit ourselves to services that:
Support for Local Care We believe that people are best served in or near their own homes or the community of their choice. We commit to the availability of a full and flexible array of coordinated services in every community across the state, and to services that are provided in a healthy environment. We believe in services that build upon critical local supports: family, friends, faith communities, healthcare providers, and other community services that offer employment, learning, leisure pursuits, and other human or clinical supports. Commitment to Quality We will be an agency worthy of the highest level of public trust. We will provide treatment environments that are safe and therapeutic, and work environments which inspire and promote innovation and creativity. We will hire, train, support and retain staff who are culturally and linguistically competent, who are committed to the recovery philosophy, and who value continuous learning and research. We will provide services efficiently and effectively, and will strive always to provide interventions that are scientifically proven to support recovery. Dedication to improved public awareness and knowledge We believe that people with mental illnesses, trauma victims, and others who experience severe emotional distress, are often the object of misunderstanding and stigmatizing attitudes. Therefore we will build formal partnerships with the state's educational leadership and institutions, including both K-12 and institutions of higher learning, to enhance curriculum content on mental health. We will work with employers, sister agencies, and public media to combat prejudice born of ignorance about mental illnesses. And we will expect our own staff to be leaders in the anti-stigma campaign. S.C.
Department of Mental Health
In 1812 South Carolina became the second state in the nation to establish a state-supported hospital for the mentally ill. From its first patient in 1828 to the middle of this century, South Carolina's mental health system looked to its two state hospitals, S.C. State Hospital and Crafts-Farrow State Hospital, to provide care and treatment for people affected by mental illness. By the later 1950s and early 1960s, the population at these two facilities had grown to 6,000. Mental illness had come to mean institutional care, often for the rest of one's life. In the 1960s, two significant developments revolutionized the treatment of mental illness and offered help to thousands. Medications were discovered that controlled the symptoms of many major illnesses, opening the possibility that people with a mental illness could improve and return to their communities. Along with this, the community mental health movement began. This movement resulted in a nationwide network of centers to treat people who returned from hospitals and to provide education and early intervention to prevent and reduce the effects of mental illness. The Division of Community Mental Health Services has grown into a comprehensive, statewide system that is now the centerpiece of South Carolina's mental health system. Community mental health centers are the entry point into South Carolina's system. The state is divided into 17 geographical areas called catchment or service areas. Each area has a comprehensive mental health center. (See Directory of Centers and Services) The centers provide a full range of services that usually include: emergency and screening; day treatment; consultation; education and prevention; inpatient services; child and adolescent services; elderly services; outpatient services; alcohol and drug abuse services; community support programs; intensive case management; supported employment programs; living skills programs and various outreach programs. When center resources cannot meet a patient's needs, they refer patients to one of the department's inpatient facilities. (See Directory of Facilities and Services.) Community Resources Development
The Department of Mental Health encourages volunteer involvement and the development of community resources to enhance the state's mental health care programs and to build closer ties with the community. Volunteers have traditionally been an integral part of programs. They enhance care and help to build closer ties between the community and the mental health system. In addition to providing extra "hands" and support to patients and their families, volunteers help dispel the stigma and misconceptions often surrounding mental illness. Individual volunteers and groups are needed. People of all ages are encouraged to become involved in a variety of challenging and rewarding activities. A sample of opportunities is listed below.
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Directory of Facilities and Services |
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S.C. Department of Mental Health (Central Office) 2414 Bull Street P.0. Box 485 Columbia, S.C. 29202 Telephone: (803) 898-8319 |
G. Werber Bryan Psychiatric Hospital 220 Faison Drive Columbia, S.C. 29203 Telephone: (803) 935-7146 |
Veterans' Victory House 2461 Sidneys Road Walterboro, SC 29488 Phone: (843) 538-3000 |
Richard Michael Campbell Veterans Nursing
Home 4605 Belton Highway Anderson, S.C. 29621 Telephone: (864) 261-6734 |
William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute 1800 Colonial Drive (P.O. Box202) Columbia, S.C.29202 Telephone: (803) 898-1593 |
Earle E. Morris Jr. Alcohol and Drug
Addiction Treatment Center 610 Faison Drive Columbia, S.C.29203 Telephone: (803)935-7100 |
C.M. Tucker Jr./Nursing Care
Center 2200 Harden Street Columbia, S.C. 29203 Telephone: (803) 737-5301 |
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Community Mental Health Centers |
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Aiken-Barnwell Mental Health Center 1135 Gregg Highway Aiken, S.C. 29801 Telephone: (803) 641-7700 |
Anderson-Oconee-Pickens Community Mental
Health Center 200 McGee Road Anderson, S.C. 29625 Telephone: (864) 260-2220 |
Beckman Center for Mental Health Services 1547 Parkway, Suite 100 Greenwood, S.C. 29646-3050 Telephone: (864) 229-7120 |
Berkeley Community Mental Health Center P.O. Box 1030 403 Stoney Landing Rd. Moncks Corner, S.C. 29461 Telephone: (843) 761-8282 or (888) 202-1381 |
Catawba Community Mental Health Center 448 Lakeshore Parkway, Suite 205 Rock Hill, S.C. 29730 Telephone: (803) 328-9600 |
Coastal Empire Community Mental Health
Center P.O. Box 1044 1050 Ribaut Road Beaufort, S.C. 29902-1044 Telephone: (803) 524-8899 |
Charleston/Dorchester Community Mental
Health Center Port City Center 2100 Charlie Hall Boulevard, Charleston, S.C. 29403 Telephone: (843) 852-4100 |
Columbia Area Mental Health Center 2715 Colonial Drive, Suite 100 Columbia, S.C. 29240-4440 Telephone: (803) 898-4802 |
Greenville Mental Health Center 124 Mallard Road. Greenville, S.C. 29601 Telephone: (864) 241-1040 |
Lexington County Community Mental Health
Center 301 Palmetto Park Blvd. Lexington, S.C. 29072 Telephone: (803) 996-1500 |
Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center 2319 St. Matthews Rd. Orangeburg, S.C. 29116 Telephone: (803) 536-1571 |
Pee Dee Mental Health Center 125 East Cheves Street Florence, S.C. 29506 Telephone: (843) 317-4089 |
Piedmont Center for Mental Health Svcs 20 Powderhorn Rd. Simpsonville, S.C. 29681 Telephone: (864) 967-8617 |
Santee-Wateree Community Mental Health
Center 2640-A Hardee Cove/P.O. Box 1946 Sumter, S.C. 29150 Telephone: (803) 775-9364 |
Spartanburg Area Mental Health Center 250 Dewey Avenue Spartanburg, S.C. 29303 Telephone: (864) 585-0366 |
Tri-County Community Mental Health Center P.O. Box 918, 1035 Cheraw Highway Bennettsville, S.C. 29512 Telephone: (843) 454-0841 |
Waccamaw Center for Mental Health 164 Waccamaw Medical Park Conway, S.C.29526 Telephone: (803) 347-5060 |
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For more information go to Centers and Hospitals/Program Services or www.scdmh.org. |