On July 1, 1967, the Garland County Guidance Center opened business on the second floor of the old Post Office building, above the first-floor City-County Health Department on Convention Boulevard in Hot Springs. The Guidance Center was the result of hard work, planning coordination, and organization on the part of the Garland County Association for Mental Health, organized in April 1965. The goal of this group was to establish a community facility that would offer mental health services to all county residents.
This group, armed with the results of a survey partly sponsored by the Sears Foundation, enlisted the support of other health and welfare agencies and institutions in a five-county area to seek a comprehensive community mental health center staffing grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, which was funded in October, 1969. Those most responsible for establishing this Center are representatives of local medical societies, bar associations, ministerial alliances, public schools, the welfare agencies, and institutions of higher learning.
On October 1, 1969, the Ouachita Regional Counseling and Mental Health Center became one of the nation's comprehensive community mental health centers, having grown from a part-time operation to a full-time, five-county health agency. The receipt of a Children's Service Staffing Grant in 1971 allowed ORCMHC to increase services to public schools and other organizations serving preschool and handicapped children. Children's Service programs have included speech therapy as well as special services for autistic children and hearing impaired children.
By 1972, the staff and services had outgrown the second-floor home on Convention Boulevard, and a move was made to a building with more large rooms, formerly schoolrooms, at the former Lee Elementary School building on Rugg Street. The Center provided services to the Hot Springs School District in lieu of rent. Eventually, a mobile building was bought and installed in the parking lot to accommodate the children's services staff. More remodeling was done to make more offices for therapists and administrative functions. In 1979, the Board of Directors made arrangements for the purchase of a 16,650 square foot building which had been vacated by the First Assembly of God on the corner of Seventh and South in Hot Springs.
In 1987, Ouachita Regional Counseling and Mental Health Center began operating under the name Community Counseling Services. The new operating name was the result of a study which showed that persons who had not used ORCMHC services were confused by the name, misunderstood the private corporation status, and knew of only a portion of services offered. The name Community Counseling Services is meant to indicate a sensitivity to the needs of the community.
ORCMHC opened a Malvern office in November, 1969. Space was donated by the First Presbyterian Church. Several years later, the Malvern office moved to the vacant Rockport School building where the Malvern schools donated free space. In 1973, the Malvern office moved to the 1524 Potts, a building once used as a doctor's office. Inpatient beds were available in the Hot Spring County Hospital until 1977 when the Center's first federal staffing grant ended. In April 1993, a lease agreement was reached for a 10,000 square foot property in the former Wal-Mart Shopping Center at 1628 E. Page. In late 2003, arrangements were made to purchase a highly visible and attractive clinic from National Park Medical Center, where the Malvern office is now located. Completed in 1996, this building is located on the main highway into Malvern from the Interstate.
The first Arkadelphia office was located at 6th and Crittenden Streets. Later, the office moved to 408 Clay Street. In 1987, the Center purchased the Twin Rivers Professional Center located at 210 N. 26th St. in Arkadelphia. This facility is near Twin Rivers Hospital and offers 14 office sized rooms plus waiting room and several lab and prep areas. An additional building was completed in 2005 for an adult day treatment program started in 2003.
In 1988, the Center purchased the building located at 125 Corporate Drive, near the Hot Springs Mall, to house its expanded Community Support Program for the long-term mentally ill. (This building has since been sold.) In 1991, the Community Support program had expanded necessitating additional facilities. That year, the Meyer Building at 505 W. Grand was purchased to house this program.
In 1994, the Board of Directors purchased a 39-acre tract of land located on Section Line Way near the St. Joseph's Regional Health Center. Long-range plans were made to centralize all Garland County services with a complex to be constructed on this property. The Community Counseling Foundation was established to raise capital for this project. Funding was received from HUD to construct two 20-unit apartment complexes for adults with long-term mental illness, one to be located on the new complex property and the other in Malvern.
Offices of the Community Counseling Center (adult outpatient) were moved to 101 Whittington Place in May of 1994 because the 700 South building could no longer accommodate both the adult and children's programs. In January of 2000, Both the 700 South and 505 W. Grand buildings (owned by the Corporation) were extensively remodeled and the leased 101 Whittington Place building vacated. The adult Community Support Program and the School-Based Services were headquartered at 700 South, and Hot Springs Outpatient and Specialized Children's Services were located at 505 W. Grand.
The dream begun by the Board in 1994 was fulfilled in August of 2007 as the Outpatient, Adult Community Support, and Administration services moved to a new state-of-the art building located at 125 Dons Way off Section Line Way. Specialized Children's Services have expanded to fill the entire W. Grand building.
One of the fastest growth areas in the early 21st century has been in school-based services. Various school districts have invited CCS to place a team, generally made up of a licensed mental health professional and a paraprofessional case manager, in the school, with the school district supplying office space.
Community Counseling Services is chartered as a non-profit program with a 15-member Board of Directors, with 3 directors elected from each Clark, Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, and Pike Counties. Approximately 150 full and part-time staff provide medical, psychological, educational, and speech treatment along with a variety of programs relating to education and prevention aimed at helping the average person lead a more satisfying life.
