History of Community Alternatives

In the mid 1990's, the state of Missouri began privatizing its outpatient mental health services. Several mental health experts in the community were concerned that privatization would prohibit access to mental health services to those who needed it most: those with little or no insurance.  In order to ensure services to the most vulnerable of our community, many of them left their positions to start a new organization.

Community Alternatives was originally incorporated as an LLC in 1995.  The mental health professionals who formed it worked tirelessly for months, some without pay, to get the new organization running.  CA was initially funded through managed care contracts to provide mental health screenings and therapy services in emergency rooms.  After a year, CA was awarded its first federal grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). CA partnered with the University of Missouri-St. Louis on the grant to provide Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), an evidence-based intervention for those dually diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse.  This team was called ROADS.

Within the first several years, CA established four core service areas:

1. Outreach to homeless individuals with mental illness and substance abuse
2. ACT- a community-based service for those who are dually diagnosed,
3. Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) - a family-based intervention for youth with behavioral problems
4. and mental health services for those HIV/AIDS.  

CA received additional grants from SAMHSA and other agencies.  In addition to ROADS, a second ACT team operated from 1997-2002 called PACE.  Another team called Journey served women with mental illness who had children.  Journey operated from 1998-2004.  CA began providing Ryan White federally funded services to its clients with HIV in 2003.

In 2004, CA reincorporated as a non-for-profit organization in order allow it to pursue additional funding streams.  While the agency had to eliminate some services initially, the restructuring helped the agency expand soon after.

In 2006, the St. Louis Mental Health Board approached CA to provide services to a growing population of refugees in St. Louis dealing with mental health issues.  This project, along with grants from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement led to the creation of the FAITH team.

In 2006, the MST service expanded to include Incredible Years, an early childhood intervention for behavioral issues.

The ROADS team was reorganized in 2008 when the Missouri Department of Mental Health saw the need to fund ACT services under its Comprehensive Pyschiatric and Rehabilitation Program.  CA's ACT team is primarily funded through DMH.  In addition, a second team, Tikkun Anashim, was created based on ACT principles, but funded through a variety of sources.