July 01, 2025
State Mental Health Agencies (SMHAs) are responsible for administering over $55 billion each year to provide mental health services to more than 8.4 million individuals. SMHAs vary widely in how they are structured within state governments, how they organize and oversee the delivery of mental health services, and the specific types of services for which they are responsible. The organization and responsibilities of SMHAs are also regularly modified. For example, as of July 1, 2025, two states (Illinois and South Carolina) are restructuring their SMHA and combining mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) service responsibilities within a single agency.