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The center will be viewed as an organization which provides mental health services with compassion and professional competence in order to enhance the quality of life and promote the overall well-being of our residents/students and communities.


It is the center's mission to provide an array of mental health services for adults and children which maximize each person's functioning within his/her home and community.

• Provision of ethical and professional services
  
• Compliance with professional standards of practice
  
• Commitment to a supportive and positive personnel environment
  
• Commitment to consumer satisfaction
  
• Timely response to consumer and community needs
  
• Efficient and flexible utilization of personnel resources and expertise and of the funding provided

• The Poweshiek County Mental Health Center strives to be a rewarding place to work for all its employees.
  
• The Poweshiek County Mental Health Center will be a respected entity and will be a visible, responsible member of the community.
  
• The Poweshiek County Mental Health Center will provide quality services that are needed by the community.

• Marilyn Kennett (President)
• Wendy Munyon
• Frank Brownell
• Doug Cameron
• Ellie Snook
• Roma Stewart
• Laura Pinkerton
• Patrick Cogley, M.D.
• Howie Stein
• Patty Amador-Lacson

 

Larry VanErsvelde
Betty Ludden
Lee Meredith
Betty Moffett
Richard Bachman
Dick Postels
Bev Postels
Dona Hendrickson
Luke White
Helen Marcum
Cherie Nowparvar

A number of circumstances, particularly the development of antipsychotic medications, resulted in the wholesale discharge from state institutions of large numbers of mentally ill persons beginning in the mid-1950’s. When John F. Kennedy signed into law the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Act of 1963, his government anticipated that 1500 centers would be required for nationwide coverage. It was assumed that community mental health centers would provide appropriate aftercare service for these individuals in order to continue their rehabilitation in the community and prevent further unnecessary hospitalizations. Between 1955 and 1985, inpatients in U.S. mental health hospitals dwindled from 550,000 to 110,000. Unfortunately, by 1980, only 700 CMHCs had received funding. This trend of under-funding mental health services continues today. Callous cost-cutting in public services contributed to the subsequent growth in homelessness and imprisonment of mentally ill people throughout many zones of the United States.

The Poweshiek County Mental Health Center was established as a private, non-profit agency in 1970. Since its creation with one full time staff member, the number of staff has grown considerably. The services of the mental health center have also expanded and diversified.

Factoids and Consumer Quotes

Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and borderline personality disorder. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible.










Mental illnesses usually strike individuals in the prime of their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially vulnerable.









Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the U.S., and the third leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24
years. More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder.