The CMSU Program was established in the late 1960's after the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed the MH/ID Act of 1966, which mandated the establishment of community-based services for mentally ill and Intellectually disabled citizens of the Commonwealth. Drug and alcohol services were established in the early 1970's after the enactment of the Drug & Alcohol Abuse Control Act of 1972, which established community-based services for the prevention, intervention and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. Prior to the establishment of these services, institutional care was used almost exclusively to treat these conditions.

Over the past thirty years, populations in institutions have decreased drastically as society has adopted more progressive and humane methods of accommodating folks with disabilities, and programs such as CMSU have grown accordingly. CMSU, with a budget of over seventeen million dollars, and a workforce of 230, serves approximately four thousand people each year, and we are still growing. Assisted by the Behavioral Health Advisory Board, the Developmental Supports and Services Advisory Board, and the Joinder Board of County Commissioners, CMSU provides a full range of services to eligible individuals through our on-staff programs or contracts with licensed service providers. As a non-profit Agency our primary sources of funding are from the federal, state and local governments.

We encourage you to browse through our web site and hope that it will help you find the information you need to assist you and your family. Please contact us at any time if we can be of assistance to you.