St. Clair County CMH celebrates 60 years of positive impacts on mental health and stigma reduction

From a fledgling organization to a multidisciplinary agency that has impacted the lives of tens of thousands of St. Clair County residents, St. Clair County Community Mental Health (SCCCMH) has a lot to celebrate over its 60-year history.

The agency offers comprehensive mental health care and stigma reduction. Whether directly through services or indirectly through partnerships with dozens of St. Clair County organizations, SCCCMH has been at the forefront of ensuring individuals with mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and developmental disabilities lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

SCCCMH honored changemakers and community advocates at its annual anniversary and awards ceremony this month. Artwork and poetry from the 2025 Creative Arts Contest were also on display. 
The following individuals were honored for their contributions to SCCCMH:
 

• Kathy Baker: Community Service; Community-Based Division Director at Blue Water Developmental Housing
• John Fleming: Communications; Station Manager and Digital Media Producer of Thumbcoast.tv
• Best Kid, PC: Organization of the Year
• Tricia Gapshes: SCCCMH Employee of the Year; Case Manager
• Heather Lane: Rights Champion of the Year; Stone Creek Group Home
• Victor Polito: Difference Maker Award; SCCCMH Veteran Peer Support Specialist
• Jo Ann Wilton: Karen Cole Family Advocate Award; advocate for individuals with developmental disabilities

The History of Mental Health Treatment in Michigan and SCCCMH’s Early Days

In the late 19^th and the first half of the 20^th century, an increasing number of individuals with mental illness were admitted to state institutions, where the conditions were often poor, mental health treatment was lacking or nonexistent, and there was no hope of ever leaving the facility.

Then, in 1963, with a renewed focus on the treatment of individuals in these facilities, Michigan and then the federal government signed laws to establish community mental health centers to bring people residing in state hospitals back to their home counties for community-based services.

Mike McCartan, former SCCCMH director, and Ed Priemer, former SCCCMH employee and current board member, both started their careers at the agency in the 1970s. They helped bring people from state institutions home to St. Clair County during the era of “deinstitutionalization.”

“People born with developmental disabilities were oftentimes sent to facilities and essentially forgotten,” McCartan says. “In a place like Lapeer state home or Oakdale, it had on its grounds both a nursery, a school, a farm, and a cemetery, because there were people who went there and never left.”

In the 70s and 80s, and even into the 90s, McCartan says some local residents fiercely opposed the construction of community mental health centers and group homes, even going so far as to protest their construction at town hall meetings, and graffitiing, vandalizing, and setting fire to construction sites.

“It brought out a side of people that was ignorance in a true sense of the word, meaning not knowing, not understanding, not having an appreciation for ‘those people,’ who were sons and daughters and brothers and sisters of their neighbors,” McCartan says. “In some cases, they were afraid, they didn’t want these people to be in our community.”

McCartan also saw the positive side of humanity – the regular men and women who worked in these community health centers.

“It was incredible to be at the forefront of a very quiet, very significant civil rights movement. We were at the head of ensuring that people had the right to live with dignity and respect in their own community. Everybody has that right, including people who have a diagnosable condition,” McCarten says. “I refer to the people who helped in that civil rights movement as true freedom fighters, the group home staff and the day program staff and the case managers and the foster care operators, who endured the looks and the hateful words that often would happen on visits to the grocery store, to the mall or to the restaurant.”

The stigma around mental health has greatly improved since then, Priemer and McCartan say, due in part to SCCCMH’s efforts to raise awareness of mental health issues and expand its services.

“Community Mental Health has done a really fine job educating the community with mental health issues, reducing stigma, and educating the public on mental health services for all consumers, including the developmentally disabled and children,” Priemer says. “It continues to do a good job, although it continues to need to be done.”

SCCCMH’s Recent History and Building Its Community Impact

In 1996, the Michigan Mental Health Code was amended to include Person-Centered Planning as a key element of care, which empowers the patient to make their own decisions for their treatment. This model is still followed today, SCCCMH CEO Deb Johnson says.

“It’s a treatment planning process where we talk with the person about their goals? What are their dreams? What are their strengths? And what do they want to do? Who do they want to be? Who do they want involved in the planning?” Johnson says. “We don’t just do it that way because it’s a requirement, but because we believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Another revolutionary care model was the “Recovery Model,” introduced in 2004, which recognizes that all individuals have the ability to live a life in recovery.

The SCCCMH Annual Awards and 60th Anniversary Celebration honors changemakers and advocates in the community on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

In 2000, the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners voted to make SCCCMH an Authority. Johnson says this was a huge step forward because it allowed the agency to own property and build equity, which can then be put back into services. Instead of renting multiple small offices across the county, SCCCMH moved its headquarters to a 64,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Port Huron in 2008.

Since its move to Port Huron, SCCCMH has opened locations in Capac and two in Marine City to offer services to residents in the far western and southern portions of the county.

In another move to greatly expand services, SCCCMH received a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics certification (CCBHCs), which allowed the agency to provide services to people with private health insurance and people with mild to moderate conditions. Previously, only those with government-funded health insurance or no insurance with a serious mental illness were eligible for services.

The designation also opened the door for SCCCMH to receive $8 million in federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grants over four years, beginning in 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic increased the incidence of mental health challenges and substance use disorder (SUD) in the general population, and it also ushered in the expansion of telehealth services, further expanding access to people with restrictive schedules or transportation challenges, Johnson says.

Looking to the Future

If SCCCMH continues to serve patients at its current rate, it is expected to serve 7,500 this fiscal year, an increase of about 500 from last year, Johnson says.

And the organization isn’t done growing. SCCMH recently purchased property to construct a six-bed children’s therapeutic group home for children with severe emotional disturbances. The organization will also open a Behavioral Health Urgent Care center to expand crisis response services to the community this October.

The agency also plans to roll out the Behavioral Health Home, a comprehensive care management model for people on Medicaid and with certain serious mental illnesses or emotional disturbances. A central point of contact will work with a team of providers across the physical and mental health system to create a person-centered Behavioral Health Home Care Plan.

“As we look to the future, we must continue to advocate for adequate funding to support our most vulnerable community members. Mental illnesses and substance use disorders should never be viewed through a partisan lens. As President Trump stated in his proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month, ‘mental illnesses can affect anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances. No person should have to face these challenges alone.’” Johnson says. “At St. Clair County Community Mental Health, we remain committed to serving individuals across all economic and cultural backgrounds, ensuring that critical mental health services stay accessible and available to everyone in need.”

SCCCMH offers outpatient mental health treatment, case management, community integration services, community living supports, SUD treatment, mental health advocacy, training, classes, and community events.

Visit SCCCMH’s website to learn more about their services, programs, and events. Contact the agency at (810) 985-8900 for general inquiries. If you are seeking access to services, contact the Region 10 Access Center at (888) 225 – 4447. For a mental health emergency, call the Mobile Crisis Unit at (810) 966 – 2575.