Mental Health Systems Act of 1980

Common card · No. 490062

The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA) was an Act of Congress signed by American President Jimmy Carter which provided grants to community mental health centers. The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 was designed to restructure and improve community mental health care delivery in the United States. The Act, which was signed into law in the last months of President Jimmy Carter's administration, attempted to improve cooperation between federal, state, and local agencies and highlighted the need of community-based mental health services. Influenced in part by advocacy efforts undertaken by First Lady Rosalynn Carter, the Act also sought to eliminate stigma associated with mental illness and stressed the protection of patients' rights. The United States, however, continued to fall far behind peer countries in terms of providing integrated, easily accessible mental health services, which is suggestive of more widespread structural problems with access to and funding for health care. In...

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