Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing Information
Biography / Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Sacramento County (Calif.) Department of Health Services records
Dates: 1969-1981
Bulk Dates: 1974-1979
Collection number: CNTY0010
Creator:
Sacramento County (Calif.) Department of Health Services
Collection Size:
3 linear feet
(3 boxes)
Repository:
Center for Sacramento History
Sacramento, California 95811-0229
Abstract: The collection includes the records of two organizations, the Sacramento County Mental Health Advisory Board and the Sacramento
County Health Council, and a collection of pamphlets and calendars associated with Sacramento County mental health programs.
Physical location: 27K7, 27K8
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Collection is open for research use.
Publication Rights
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Sacramento County (Calif.) Department of Health Services records, CNTY0010, Center for Sacramento
History.
Acquisition Information
Records transferred from the Sacramento County Mental Health Department to the Center for Sacramento History in 1983 (Accession
#1983/132).
Processing Information
Sacramento County Mental Health Department series processed by William Burg, 2009. Finding aid prepared by William Burg, 2009.
Collection was renamed Sacramento County (Calif.) Department of Health Services records from Sacramento County Mental Health
Collection to reflect the current name of the department (DACS).
Biography / Administrative History
The Mental Health Advisory Board (MHAB) was created in response to the Short-Doyle Act, passed by the California legislature
in 1957. This legislation was part of a national shift in mental health policy from institutionalization of the mentally ill
to county-based community mental health systems. Sacramento’s MHAB was created in 1963 to advise the Sacramento County Board
of Supervisors and the Director of the Department of Mental Health. Its responsibility included review and evaluation of the
community’s mental health needs, services, facilities and special problems, and preparation of an annual report to the Board
of Supervisors. MHAB included several subcommittees, including the Executive Committee, the Plan Committee, the Nominating
Committee, Advisory Committee, the Catchment Area Committees (Sacramento County was divided into five service zones, called
“catchment areas”) and the Grants Committee.
The Sacramento County Health Council was created as a result of the Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974,
federal legislation that combined and redirected the efforts of federally supported state and local agencies. The Act created
regional Health Service Areas (HSA) throughout the country. Sacramento County was part of an eight-county HSA known as the
Golden Empire Health Services Agency (GEHSA) designed to allocate funds for medical facilities via a coordinated regional
plan. Each county created a Health Council that worked with GEHSA to administer the Act. Health providers submitted plans
to GEHSA and the Health Council based on identified community needs. Subcommittees of the Health Council disbursed federal
funds based on a policy called the Certificate of Need process.
Both boards represent an era when mental health policy was transitioning from one based on the long-term institutionalization
of the mentally ill to a strategy based on community care and deinstitutionalization. The Short-Doyle Act and later Lanterman-Petris-Short
Act recognized the rights of the mentally ill to live in the community and limited earlier state policies that promoted long-term
hospitalization for mental illness over community care. This move was supported by changes to state and federal law that provided
funding for community care clinics. The Short-Doyle Act provided matching state funds to counties that implemented county
mental health programs, and in 1972 California Welfare and Institutions Code 14000 allowed mental health providers to bill
Medi-Cal for mental health services. Similarly, the federal Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974, combined
with funding sources like Community Development Block Grants (first introduced in 1975) made funds available to develop community
health resources, both for mental and physical health programs.
Another change to government policy came in 1978 with the enactment of Proposition 13, which resulted in many dramatic cuts
to state programs, including mental health programs. These policy changes, including rising citizen concerns about the size
of government bureaucracy and a multiplicity of state and county advisory boards, resulted in the consolidation and reduction
of mental health service availability during the later period reflected in these records.
The Mental Health Advisory Board still exists as the Sacramento County Mental Health Board. The Sacramento County Health Council’s
functions are currently executed by the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services.
Scope and Content of Collection
The materials in this collection include minutes, meeting announcements, correspondence and duty statements related to the
associated boards and subcommittees. Interspersed throughout the collection are copied articles and government documents about
mental health boards, public policy including the Short-Doyle Act and the Health Planning and Resources Development Act of
1974, and assessment methodology for community boards. Calendars and pamphlets produced for and used by the Sacramento County
Mental Health Department are included as a separate category. A newsletter, MHAB Forum, produced by the Citizens’ Advisory
Council of the Mental Health Advisory Board, is found in several folders.
Arrangement
Series 1. Sacramento County Mental Health Advisory Board
Series 2. Sacramento County Health Council
Series 3. Assorted publications
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Sacramento County (Calif.). Division of Mental Health
Sacramento County Health Council
Mental Health Advisory Board
Mental health policy--California
Mental health--California