History of NRI

NRI was formed in 1987 as a distinct, non-partisan, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. We originally served as the research ally of National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), the organization representing state mental health commissioners/directors and their agencies.

Since 1987, NRI has been the only national organization working with state agencies, the Federal Government, and other entities to define, collect, and analyze data on public behavioral health systems. NRI is the leading organization for collecting performance measurement data from a majority of state psychiatric facilities, and some private psychiatric facilities, for The Joint Commission reporting requirements.

NRI has national and state-level information on over seven million consumers served by state behavioral health systems each year. NRI evaluates data at the national, state, and regional level to help states plan, budget, and evaluate the delivery of their services. NRI also helps states meet Joint Commissions’ reporting requirements by providing states with services designed to test their performance measures and improve the quality of care that is delivered within their state psychiatric hospitals. Throughout the history of NRI, our goals have remained to ascertain, develop, and distribute information (data, statistics, performance measures) about the behavioral health systems. NRI had worked on inpatient and outpatient programs at the federal, state, and local levels with public, as well as private entities. The information collected by NRI is used to educate the public on the behavioral health care system, as well as educate and train public/private behavioral health administrators.