About MHDS

In 2006, the Iowa Legislature established the Division of Mental Health and Disability Services (MHDS) within the Department of Human Services (DHS). With the enactment of HF2780, the general assembly sought a service system for persons with disabilities which emphasizes the ability of persons with disabilities to exercise their own choices about the amounts and types of services received; that all levels of the service system would seek to empower persons with disabilities to accept responsibility, exercise choices, and take risks; that disability services are individualized, provided to produce results, flexible, and cost-effective; and that disability services be provided in a manner which supports the ability of persons with disabilities to live, learn, work, and recreate in communities of their choice.

The public system of mental health and disabilities care in Iowa provides a safety net for the uninsured or those who do not have available to them commercial health insurance benefits coverage to meet their needs. This public system in Iowa includes the MHDS, the services provided by the ninety-nine (99) Iowa counties through a wide range of community providers, services offered by community mental health centers, services offered by and funded through school districts, Area Education Agencies (AEAs) and the Department of Education, Child Health Specialty Clinics and other services funded through the Department of Public Health, and public facilities such as mental health institutes and resource centers. A large portion of the public system is federally funded through Iowa’s Medicaid entity - the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise through a contract with Magellan Behavioral Health. Some federal grants support parts of this public network.

Most of those persons served by the Iowa public mental health and disability service system have serious mental illness or severely disabling conditions, and often as a result of their disabilities, end up poor and dependent on the public system. Each year Iowa’s public mental health and disability service system serves over 70,000 people.

Vision Statement

It is our collective vision to build and implement a coordinated system for Iowans with mental illness, mental retardation, other developmental disabilities, or brain injury, where individuals receive necessary, high quality services and supports on an equitable, timely and convenient basis, enabling them to live, learn, work, recreate and otherwise contribute in their chosen communities. If we are successful implementing our vision, the following will be true:

Iowans understand that Mental Health Is essential to overall health.
Mental Health and Disabilities care is consumer and family driven.
A “System of Care” approach is supported.
Early Screening, Assessment, and Referral to services are common practice.
Technology Is Used to Access Care and Information.
Excellent Care Is Delivered and Research Is Accelerated.
Disparities in Mental Health and Disabilities Services are eliminated.

System Values

Choice: The ability of Iowans with disabilities and their families to make informed choices about the amounts and types of service and supports received.
Empowerment: The reinforcement of the fundamental rights, dignity and ability of Iowans with disabilities to provide valuable input, accept responsibility, make informed choices, and take risks.
Community: The system supports the right, dignity, and ability of all individuals with disabilities to live, learn, work, and recreate in the communities of their choice.

System Principles

Individuals with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as non-disabled persons.
Unique individual and family strengths, needs, choices and preferences are the basis for services and support planning and delivery.
Individuals and their families take the lead in identifying service and support needs and in planning to meet those needs.
Service and support planning and delivery encourage the development and enhancement of natural support systems of individuals and their families.
Individuals and their families have the right to appeal if the planning, access or delivery of services and supports does not meet their needs and choices.
Quality services are provided in a manner that encourages and supports the development of each individual’s abilities and minimizes intrusion in or disruption of the individual’s life style.
Housing should be affordable, safe, stable, and in settings that maximize community integration and opportunities for community inclusion.
Funding for service and support provision follows the individual needs and choices of individuals and their families.
Services and supports are provided in a culturally competent manner, focus on outcomes and the prevention of the need for more costly services and supports.
Individuals and their families are actively involved in service and support system planning, resource prioritization, program implementation, and evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of services and supports.
Services are delivered by a means that is accountable for administering a system of services in a consistent, fair, equitable, high quality, and efficient manner