Southern Hills Counseling Center

Southern Hills was established in 1968 and serves the residents of Dubois, Perry, Spencer, Orange, and Crawford Counties in southwestern Indiana.

Along with this law, the development of more effective psychotropic medications and new approaches to psychotherapy made community-based care for the mentally ill a more feasible alternative. A growing body of evidence demonstrated that most people with mental illnesses could be treated more effectively and in a more cost-effective manner in community settings than in traditional psychiatric hospitals. The populations of state inpatient hospitals has dropped from near 600,000 in 1955 to fewer than 70,000 today.

Today, community-based behavioral healthcare continues to be a more effective option than institutionalization — in terms of access to care, quality services, and cost to the taxpayer and private payer. However, the organizations delivering such care have evolved far beyond the original community mental health centers. Community-based behavioral care is delivered by a mix of government and county-operated as well as private nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Services are funded by a patchwork of sources — largely by Medicaid (up to 70% of services) as well as by county, state, and federal programs; Medicare; and private insurance.

With modest increases in investment, today’s community mental health care providers can do an even better job of building healthy minds and strong communities — giving people with mental illness and addictions a chance to recover and lead productive lives.