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In Williamsburg, Virginia, the first state hospital for the mentally ill was opened in the United States. It was called - by law - the Eastern State Hospital. -
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In a 30-page report represented to the Legislature of Massachusetts, Dorothea Lynde Dix systematically recorded and documented the horrific conditions of the mentally ill with dates, places, and details of her investigation. -
Dorothea Lynde Dix's request for funds was approved to introduce reform for the care of patients with mental illness was at Worcester Insane Asylum – Massachusetts' only state mental hospital. -
President Franklin Pierce vetoes a bill passed by Congress that would have provided ten million acres of federal land to be sold for the support of asylums for the mentally ill – setting a precedent for federal non-participation in social welfare. -
Massachusetts General Hospital hired Mary Antoinette Cannon to work with mentally ill patients, who became one of the early practitioners of medical social work in a hospital setting. -
Clifford Beer released a book that captured the attention of the public and professionals. A Mind That Found Itself describes his personal story of suffering a mental breakdown where he was then forced to endure years of inhumane treatment from both public and private facilities. -
Clifford Beers, Adolf Meyer, William H. Welch, and William James founded the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene to improve standards of care and attitudes toward the mentally ill, and to prevent mental illness and promote mental health. They assisted in the development of the national and international mental hygiene movement, which advocated for federal government intervention in the problem of mental illness. -
Mary Jarrett developed a specialized psychiatric social work training program as a course of study at the Smith College for Social Work. -
It was Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory that taught the best way to help treat patients in the 1920s. As mental illnesses derived from unresolved conflicts, it was determined that patients could best be helped by remembering and discussing early events (even dreams) with a trained person. This theory went on to become popular in the 1920-1930s. -
Within the Social Work profession, the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers became a strong force in addressing issues of concern, setting professional standards, and serving as a placement bureau for social workers.
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When World War II began, the army recognized the need for mental health social workers and created officer-level positions for these workers.
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By the end of World War II, the military services and the Veterans Administration hospitals have become and stayed the largest employers of professional social workers
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The National Mental Health Act of 1946 was the first major mental health legislation passed by the U.S. government, where this act help provide federal funding towards research, training, and demonstration projects to help the states develop programs for the preventative and treatment of mental illness.
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The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was created in 1949. This federal organization went on to be well-recognized and held major impact on the development of state mental programs. -
Seven specialized social work organizations – American Association of Social Workers (AASW), American Association of Medical Social Workers (AAMSW), National Association of School Social Workers (NASSW), American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers (AAPSW), American Association of Group Workers (AAGW), Association for the Study of Community Organization (ASCO), and Social Work Research Group (SWRG) – merged to form the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) -
John F. Kennedy passed the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 as part of his New Frontier. This act established a system of community-based care by providing grants from the federal government for the construction of community mental health facilities to provide care for the persons released from hospitals for the chronically mentally ill. This act established a large-scale system of community-based care instead of the institutional care of the past. -
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) was founded in 1979 by patients, family members, and concerned professionals and works to further reduce stigma and the discrimination associated with mental illness. -
In an attempt to address the ramifications of deinstitutionalization of the Community Mental Health Act, President Jimmy Carter signed the legislation called the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980. To meet the basic needs of thousands of people who were unable to obtain mental health services without local facilities available to them or were homeless and needed following-up care, this act formally authorized the use of care management. -
The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 was signed by President Ronald Reagan that repealed the Mental Health Systems Act and consolidated ADAMHA's treatment and rehabilitation service programs into a single block grant that enabled each state to administer its allocated funds. -
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was passed to extend coverage to care for mental health and addiction disorders. This law required that health insurance plans provide equivalence between mental health and physical health coverage by preventing the imposition of annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits that are less favorable than any such limits imposed on medical/surgical benefits.
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The Affordable Health Care for America Act (ACA) is fully implemented by 2019. Enacted in 2010, the ACA is a comprehensive reform law that increases health insurance coverage for the uninsured and implements reforms to the health insurance market. -
In 2023, the Mental Health Services for Students Act (H.R. 3713) is set for public schools across the country to partner with local mental health professionals to establish on-site mental health services for students with a funding of $300 million dollars.