By JACK BERNARD, Special to The Citizen
The McIntosh Trail Community Service Board (MTCSB) is a public entity created by the Georgia legislature in 1993 to provide mental health, developmental disability and addictive disease services. It is part of a statewide network of similar organizations set up via the state of Georgia.
MTCSB services are available to residents of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties. McIntosh Trail programs are CARF accredited.
The mission of McIntosh Trail Community Service Board is to offer individuals experiencing symptoms associated with mental illness, addictive disease and/or developmental disability the hope for optimal functioning and recovery by providing quality behavioral health services and supports.
The vision of McIntosh Trail Community Service Board is to promote and support community cultures in which those who have or experience disabilities are visible, valued, participating, and contributing members.
In Fayette County, McIntosh Trail currently has an Outpatient Center, Fayette County Counseling Center, and an Intellectual Developmental Disabilities Day Center, Fayette Community Options. The McIntosh Trail Community Service Board (MTCSB) typically sees around 500 residents per year from Fayette County.
MTCSB will be moving its Fayette County operations to the new Department of Public Health building in Fayetteville, as described below. Moving into this space will give MTCSB more space and capacity to serve the mental health and substance use disorder needs in the county, as described below.
But first, a bit of history. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I served as the state of Georgia’s first Director of Health Planning. My units developed both physical and mental comprehensive health plans for Georgia.
One of the efforts that I was involved with was mental health/substance abuse deinstitutionalization. I surveyed the state mental hospitals, which were more extensive than in any other state and a drain on state budgets. When I did my on-site visits, I was shocked.
These facilities were run like poorly funded county jails. They were filthy and very little actual care was given to the residents. These hospitals were places where caregivers dumped their charges.
So, the State Health Plan described how these facility residents should be moved out into communities. The idea was that the money being spent on the hospitals could be reallocated to provide much more effective treatment in a local setting. The mental hospitals were subsequently closed, with few remaining.
Unfortunately, insufficient funding was provided to community mental health centers to provide outpatient treatment for residents with substance abuse and mental disabilities. Additional funding is required from the state to meet ever present needs. Which brings us back to MTCSB.
The new Fayette County DPH building (formerly East Fayette Elementary) is under renovation and will be ready for occupancy in early 2025.
For the first time, WIC, physical health, environmental health and substance abuse/mental health services will be co-located. Through MTCSB, the following services (and many others) will be provided-psychiatric treatment, group counseling, drug screening, family counseling, substance abuse treatment, and crisis stabilization.
