The State Charities Aid Association of New York State (SCAA), an organization of private citizens in New York State providing services and advocacy in the areas of mental health, public health, child welfare, social work, and relief for the poor, was founded in 1872. During most of the period 1872-1950, the SCAA was located in New York City. It remains in existence today (2001), headquartered in Albany, NY, under the name Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.

The SCAA was organized on May 11, 1872, when Louisa Lee Schuyler, a leader in New York City charitable and social work efforts, brought together members of local groups carrying out such tasks as visiting poorhouses and hospitals. Under Ms. Schuyler's leadership, the group set out to assist the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities, established by state law in 1867 to visit and inspect annually all charitable and correctional institutions receiving public aid. The three initial standing committees of the SCAA created at this meeting dealt with children, the sick, insane and aged, and vagrants.

The SCAA was incorporated in 1880. In 1884, Ms. Schuyler organized a "special committee on the insane" with the initial goal of replacing the practice of caring for the mentally ill in poorhouses with a complete system of state care for both the chronic and the acute mentally ill. Through this committee the SCAA soon became a leading advocate of reform for New York State's mental health system. As a historical survey of social welfare efforts in New York notes: "many welfare leaders in New York State felt that the condition of the insane in county asylums and poorhouses was intolerable and that the situation could be remedied only by the full assumption of state care for all the insane, chronic and acute cases alike. A movement based on this conviction gathered strength with the years, culminating finally in the famous state care act of 1890 [by which the state for the first time assumed responsibility for the entire cost of care for mental patients in state mental hospitals]. An important part in the achievement of that objective was played by the State Charities Aid Association, led by its founder, Louisa Lee Schuyler". (History of Public Welfare in New York State, 1867-1940, David M. Schneider and Albert Deutsch, the University of Chicago Social Service Monographs, 1941, pp. 240-242).

Following the creation of the State Commission on Lunacy in 1894, members of the SCAA worked with state officials, including Governor Theodore Roosevelt, to identify suitable candidates for the post of Commissioner of Lunacy. (Correspondence related to this topic can be found in the collection). In 1906 the SCAA established a Sub-Committee on After Care of the Insane, with the mission of assisting the mentally ill after their discharge from state institutions. In 1908, this committee's name was changed to the Sub-Committee on Prevention and After-Care, in recognition of its work on the prevention of mental illness.

In 1910, the SCAA efforts in the area of mental health were united in a Committee on Mental Hygiene, which began an intensive statewide campaign for early treatment and prevention of mental disorders. In 1912, this committee helped create a demonstration mental clinic with social service in New York City. Other initiatives in the same decade included advocacy for improved methods of mental examination, establishment of state-funded out-patient mental health departments, creation of "mental dispensaries" staffed by social workers, initiation of social service work at the Cornell Clinic of Psychopathology, and development of special classes for the mentally ill in public schools throughout the state. SCAA advocacy also helped in the passage of a Mental Deficiency Law in 1919 to consolidate state services in the field of mental health.

By the 1920s, the SCAA had standing committees with 455 members, and a staff of 62 experts in public health, child welfare, and social work, assisted by a clerical staff of 55 persons. Mental health issues represented one of the major areas of the SCAA's focus, along with more general public health, infant, child and family issues. The organization's leading figure was Homer Folks, longtime executive director and a leading national authority on mental health issues. An advocacy campaign led by the SCAA helped pass an appropriation of $2.6 million in 1920 for construction or renovation of state mental hospitals. The number of state hospital mental clinics increased to 40, capable of handling more than 12,000 visits annually. Other initiatives in the 1920s included development of occupational therapy at state mental institutions, provision of temporary care for mental patients awaiting admission to state hospitals, and support for a $50 million state bond issue that, among other things, helped establish a State Psychiatric Hospital and Institute as part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City.

In 1927, the New York City Committee on Mental Hygiene was organized to consolidate the mental health efforts of the SCAA and the Welfare Council, another volunteer organization addressing mental health issues. Subsequently, ten other local committees on mental hygiene were founded throughout the state. This reorganization was part of a more general re-orientation of the SCAA, formalized in a 1927 agreement with the State Medical Society, toward closer cooperation between the SCAA and the medical profession.

In the 1930s, a large part of the SCAA's effort was focused on unemployment relief and other social issues arising during the Great Depression. For example, in 1935, SCAA carried out a study on the mental health aspects of relief, and published a pamphlet, "Relief and Mental Health", distributed to 10,000 relief and welfare workers. During World War II the SCAA helped the Selective Service provide adequate mental examination of men called for military duty, provided services for men rejected or discharged because of psychiatric problems, and set up a Mental Health Educational Program in Civilian Protection and Morale.

In 1947 the SCAA discontinued its long-time practice of formal visits to mental health institutions. By 1950, the various Mental Hygiene Committees had been recombined to form the Committee on Mental Health of the SCAA. In 1951, this committee was reorganized as the New York State Society for Mental Health.

Its beginnings trace to November, 1951, when the SCAA Committee on Mental Health carried out a study of its efforts and concluded that the Committee was too much focused on mental health professionals, and needed to "branch out to real community interests". In response, the New York State Society for Mental Health (NYSSMH) was established in late 1951 to take over the work of the SCAA's committee. It initially remained affiliated with the SCAA. Its missions included public education, advocacy, recruitment and training of mental health professionals and volunteers, special studies and research, and the creation of groups in every community to work for mental health and to obtain additional needed facilities.

In 1952, NYSSMH affiliated with the National Association for Mental Health. This organization had been created in 1950 as a merger of the two leading national organizations advocating improvements in dealing with mental health issues, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene (NCMH) and the National Mental Health Federation (NMHF). The NCMH stemmed from the work of Clifford Beers, whose own experience with the mental health system inspired him to found, with 13 others, the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene in 1908. The NMHF was founded by a group of conscientious objectors in the Civil Public Service who worked in mental hospitals during World War II.

As one of 40 state-level divisions of the NMHA, the NYSSMH concentrated its efforts in the areas of strengthening its state wide structure of some 20 affiliated county and borough associations for mental health; assisting communities in the development of mental health services, such as clinics and information referral services; assisting in the establishment of Community Mental Health Boards; advocating increased state effort on mental health issues; studying mental health issues such as licensing of psychiatric clinics and child mental health; and informing the public about mental health issues.

In 1960, the NYSSMH dropped administrative relations with the SCAA. In that year, it was incorporated as the New York State Association for Mental Health, Inc., which subsequently became the Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc. (MHANYS), as discussed below.

On September, 15, 1960, a committee of the New York State Association for Mental Health, consisting of Miss. Lucille Armistead, Mrs. Evelyn G. Briggs, Mr. W. Mason Smith, Jr., Mrs. Narcissa Street and Mr. Frank A. Vanderlip, Jr., filed a certificate of incorporation with the state of New York that created the New York State Association for Mental Health, Inc. (NYSAMH). As a successor organization to NYSSMH (see Series 2), it served as the New York State division of the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH) and as the parent organization for regional mental health associations across the state. One of the organization's initial goals was to form in every county of New York State a Mental Health Association in which any citizen could enroll. By 1970, 42 local chapters (covering more than half of the counties of the state, and about 75% of its population) were affiliated with NYSAMH.

The initial emphases of NYSAMH and its local chapters included improved care and treatment of the institutionalized mentally ill; services and facilities for rehabilitation and aftercare; treatment, schooling, and special care for mentally ill children; community based mental health facilities and services; and preventative mental health efforts and education in the community. In its first decade, NYSAMH faced financial difficulties that led to fears that it would not be able to sustain its existence. A special committee was set up in 1971 to consider the organization's future.

In 1973, the incorporation charter of NYSAMH was amended to provide that "the management of the corporation shall be vested wholly in a New York State Committee for the period beginning June 30, 1973 and ending December 31, 1975. The New York State Committee shall be composed of seven (7) individual members to be appointed from time to time by the President of the National Association for Mental Health, Inc". In 1980, NYSAMH was restored by the National organization from committee to division status.

On October 19, 1980, the name of the organization was changed to the Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc. (MHANYS). "The purpose for which said corporation is formed", the amendment to the original incorporation documents filed at that time stated, "is to develop a citizens' voluntary movement to work toward the improved care and treatment of the mentally ill, the prevention of mental illness, and the promotion of mental health". Voting rights of the corporation were vested with its local and regional chapters within New York State. Those local and regional chapters also designated the members of the Board of Directors.

In 1981, delegates to the annual meeting, according to the MHANYS Annual Report for 1981, "supported the concept of consumers having rights in the determination of the policies and programs that affect them". This is, the report noted, "a step forward in the recognition of the human rights of consumers of mental health services"

In 1986, MHANYS was operating with a staff of only two people, and a budget of only $75,000. At that time, a historical account of MHANYS notes, "the Board of Directors committed the organization to a new direction and infused the organization with energy. It began its work in an old schoolhouse in Albany and later moved to the Capital District Psychiatric Center to be near and accessible to the psychiatric patients with whom we identified a partnership"

The main initiatives adopted at this time were advocacy on behalf of public policies promoting mental health, providing information to the public on mental health issues, and supporting the efforts of the local and regional chapters. By 1993, the staff had grown to 17 people, and the budget to more than one million dollars a year. Programs initiated in the 1990s by MHANYS included the Parent Support Network, the Self Help Clearinghouse Project, the Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities Project, the Empowerment Project, the Business Advisory Project, and the Community Mental Health Promotion Project. MHANYS also launched self-help initiatives in the mental health area, and was in a leadership position along with other statewide advocacy groups in the efforts that led to the passage of the Community Mental Health Resources Act of 1993.

In 1998, MHANYS created the Foundation of Advocacy for Mental Health, Inc., "dedicated to supporting advocacy efforts on behalf of people living with mental illnesses, mental health awareness, and advocacy for prevention and treatment of mental illness". In the year 2000, MHANYS had a membership of 33 community-based mental health associations across New York State and a staff of 15 people. Its major programs included Business Outreach, a Mental Health Information Center, the Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities Project, and a Trauma Initiative to aid persons with mental illness who are also survivors of sexual assault or abuse. In addition, MHANYS sponsored or co-sponsored training conferences and events on topics ranging from community organizing to public policy.