Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in Arkansas

There’s a way to get affordable mental health care that you might not know about. That’s Arkansas’s mental health system.

If you qualify, you can get mental health care at a community mental health center or behavioral health agency for a small co-pay or a low sliding-scale fee. But even if you don’t qualify for services at a state-funded provider, Arkansas’s system can still give you information, referrals to affordable providers, and other essential help for free.

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If you’re in a hurry and want to get the most important information about what’s available at your local program and who it’s for, you can read our quick start guide below.

To learn more about public mental health services in Arkansas, keep reading. We’ve done the research to uncover essential facts about who’s eligible, what services you can get, when to go, where to call, and how it works so you can decide if Arkansas’s mental health system might be right for you.

Who Is Eligible?

The Arkansas public mental health system can meet many people’s needs, but you should especially consider looking into it if you (or a loved one) are having a mental health crisis, have a severe mental health condition, have Medicaid, or have a limited income.

Everyone in Arkansas can use the state-funded mental health emergency response system. If you or someone you love is in crisis, you can call your local crisis line to get the help you need, quickly.

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Public mental health services are usually the best option if you’re having a mental health crisis and need help right away.

State mental health programs are required to provide mental health crisis response services and are one of the fastest ways to get care when you’re having a mental health emergency.

The people who answer state and local crisis lines can provide caring attention and support as they help you determine the best response to a crisis, whether it’s inpatient treatment or an appointment with a counselor.

Even if you’re not in crisis, you can call a state or local mental health hotline for information about affordable mental health services in your area. When you call, you can find out whether you might qualify for state-funded mental health services, schedule an assessment, or get information about other affordable local providers.

The public mental health system in Arkansas doesn’t have strict statewide eligibility requirements. In general, all you need to be eligible for services at an Arkansas CMHC is a mental health condition that affects your ability to function in your daily life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be severe as long as it is having an impact.

If you do have a severe condition, CMHCs are an important option to consider. They stand out when it comes to specialty and intensive mental health services that can really help when you’re readjusting to life at home after inpatient treatment or need extra help managing your symptoms.

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Community mental health centers in Arkansas are great places to find specialized and intensive mental health services like case management and day treatment that can be hard to find anywhere else. These specialty programs can give you extra help when you’re dealing with severe symptoms.

However, while the state system is open to everyone with mental health needs, it gives you priority if you have a limited income and can’t access mental health care using your insurance—whether that’s because you don’t have insurance or your plan doesn’t have adequate mental health care coverage. Arkansas also prioritizes people involved with the criminal justice system and people with serious mental illness (SMI).

According to state mental health policy, people “with mental health problems” who don’t have SMI, a limited income, or involvement with the criminal justice system “are [also] eligible for the services of the public mental health system… to the extent that funds are available.” This means that whether you’re eligible can change, so it’s important to call your local CMHC to check.

Another way to get access to affordable public mental health care in Arkansas is to apply for Medicaid. Since Arkansas accepted Medicaid expansion, you’re eligible if your income is 138 percent of the federal poverty level or less. All state-funded mental health programs in Arkansas accept Medicaid.

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Arkansas does not run any mental health programs directly. Instead, the state contracts with independent mental health programs to provide state-funded services. This means that which services each program offers and who’s eligible depends on the program.

While publicly-funded providers are bound by state licensure requirements to serve clients who meet state criteria, they are also able to make some independent decisions about what services they provide and the extent to which they offer those services to people who aren’t members of state-designated priority populations.

So, if you don’t qualify for state financial assistance, you may still be able to get affordable therapy at a CMHC or other publicly-funded mental health agency in Arkansas. Many take both public and private insurance plans and charge sliding-scale fees based on income.

One of the most important requirements you need to meet to get services at a public mental health program in Arkanas is to be a resident of the region it serves.

You can find out which mental health program serves your region, as well as the number for your local crisis line, in the directory below. We encourage you to call even if you think you might not be eligible.

Even if you’re not eligible, or if the program doesn’t offer the service you want, they can probably still help you. The people who work in these programs are knowledgeable about local resources and will often give you free information or even referrals to other affordable providers nearby, including local non-profits that provide free or low-cost counseling.

Where Do You Call to Get Started?

The easiest way to learn more about state mental healthcare in Arkansas is to call a local mental health hotline or community mental health center. You can find the numbers for your local CMHC and crisis line in the directory in the next section.

For general mental health help or information, you can also call one of the statewide information, crisis, or support lines listed directly below.

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The statewide crisis hotline for Arkansas is 988.

The Crisis Text Line for the state of Arkansas is 741741.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline is 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).

You can reach the non-emergency NAMI Arkansas Helpline by calling (800) 844-0381.

You can talk to a peer about what you’re going through by calling Professional Counseling Associates’ Warm Line at (833) 236-2131.

You can contact the Arkansas Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services (DAABHS) by calling (501) 686-9164.

You can reach the DAABHS Mental Health and Addiction Support Line, which can help with local referrals, by calling (844) 763-0198.

Public mental health services in Arkansas are managed on the state level by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services (DAABHS) within the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

For general information about Arkansas’s system, you can contact DAABHS at (501) 686-9164. You can reach their Mental Health and Addiction Support Line to get help with finding local services by calling (844) 763-0198.

However, you’ll probably get the best results by calling your local program directly. You can find the number for the CMHC that serves your region in the directory below.

Arkansas Mental Health Directory

Public outpatient mental health services in Arkansas are provided by programs called community mental health centers. Each CMHC serves a region made up of one or more counties. Most have several locations throughout the region. Each CMHC also operates a regional crisis line.

The best way to find out about public mental health services where you live is to call your region’s CMHC or crisis line. You can find which CMHC serves your county and which number to call below.

Arkansas also licenses some additional mental health providers to provide therapy and counseling through the public system to clients who don’t have insurance. We’ve listed the agencies that are currently licensed to provide this service above, but these are subject to change.

You can find an updated list of counseling agencies that participate in the public system on the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services’ “Find Substance Abuse or Mental Health Treatment” page. That page also includes directories for CMHCs and substance abuse treatment programs.

Another way to get information about providers in your area is to call the DAABHS Mental Health and Addiction Support Line at (844) 763-0198. You can call the DAABHS central office at (501) 686-9164 for general information about the state mental health system.

Also Consider: Federally Qualified Health Centers

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are another great way to get affordable publicly-funded mental health services in Arkansas.

These federally-funded programs provide cutting-edge care in places where good primary healthcare was once hard to find. Most provide integrated care so you can get primary medical and mental health services at the same location. Each FQHC accepts Medicaid and Medicare and offers low sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance.

You can search for FQHCs near you by using the online search tool on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration website.

Troubleshooting Guide

The state mental health system is complicated and can be confusing to navigate. If you’re having any issues, we’re here to help. Here are some of our solutions to common problems you might experience.

If you’ve run into a problem that we haven’t addressed, don’t give up. Call someone at the program (or a local hotline) and tell them what’s going on.

You’re much more likely to get the help you need when you advocate for yourself and are persistent. Tell the person you talk to what you need or what problem you’re having.

If they don’t help the first time, call them back and tell them. If you keep calling and keep calm and focused, you should eventually get through to someone who can help you.

Deep Dive: How Does the System Work?

To understand Arkansas’s mental health system, it helps to understand how it started and how it’s changed since then.

Public mental health services have been around for a surprisingly long time. But for over a hundred years in America, the only way to get them was in a psychiatric hospital.

In the 1960s, Americans started thinking differently about mental health care. Conditions in psychiatric hospitals were getting worse and new medications made it possible to provide mental health treatment on an outpatient basis.

In response, new laws were passed that required state and local governments to establish community mental health programs as alternatives to institutionalization for people with serious mental illness. The most important was the Community Mental Health Act, which President John F. Kennedy signed into law in 1963.

DEEP DIVE

To learn more about what the public mental health system was like in the early days—and how psychiatric inpatient care has evolved since then—you can read our article “Do Insane Asylums Still Exist? The Surprising Past and Present.”

To learn more about what inpatient mental health treatment is like now, and the differences between how it works in general hospitals and specialized psychiatric facilities, you can read our article “How Inpatient Mental Health Treatment Works.”

Many state mental health programs trace their origins back to the 1960s when these important changes started to happen.

Arkansas is no exception. Many of its CMHCs were founded in the 1960s and 1970s using funds established by the 1963 Community Mental Health Act. In 1977, Arkansas passed a law renaming the Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Human Services (DHS), and in 1985, it passed a law that reorganized DHS and transferred the operations of CMHCs statewide to it.

In 2003, Arkansas created the Division of Behavioral Health Services, which took over management of CMHCs as well as the state’s inpatient mental health facilities. This department is now known as the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services.

DEEP DIVE

Public mental health services in Arkansas are managed on the state level by the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services (DAABHS) within the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS).

DAABHS manages 12 mental health regions, each of which has a designated CMHC. In addition to CMHCs, the state licenses agencies and independent practitioners to provide state-funded services.

All publicly-funded mental health providers in Arkansas are independent; no mental health services are directly provided by DHS, other than inpatient services at the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock and the Arkansas Health Center in Benton.

Starting in the 2010s, Arkansas made changes to its public mental health system in response to budget cuts and political pressure.

In 2017, the Arkansas legislature passed a law establishing a new Medicaid managed care program that changed what kinds of providers are eligible for state funds and how the state pays for their services. This opened the doors for independent practitioners to receive state funds, but it put pressure on already struggling CMHCs.

DEEP DIVE

In response to these changes, one of the longest-standing outpatient mental health programs in the state, the Little Rock Community Mental Health Center, closed its doors in 2019. It had been in operation since 1967.

Since the closure of this historic program, some CMHCs have merged and others have restructured their programs to keep their doors open. Some other historic CMHCs have survived, while others have been replaced by newer mental health agencies.

Recently, Arkansas has made efforts to reverse this trend and strengthen its mental health system. In the last few years, it has increased funding for crisis response and other public mental health services, expanded crisis services through collaboration with law enforcement, and launched a statewide 988 mental health crisis line. It has also begun funding and implementing an innovative integrated care system that links primary and behavioral health care across the state.

You can take advantage of these new mental health resources by calling 988 if you or a loved one are in crisis or by using the tools on the DAABHS and HRSA websites to look for mental health providers and integrated health clinics. You might be surprised—the care you need could be just a click away.

Conclusion

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 50 percent of people in Arkansas who have mental health conditions get treatment for them. Many of them qualify for public mental health services but don’t know about them.

You can make a difference by reaching out and connecting with local mental health resources to get the care you need. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for Arkansas state mental health services, call your local CMHC or crisis line. You may find out you can get mental health services through your local program or that there’s another affordable option nearby.

The most important thing is to get started—the help you need may be only a call or click away.

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

Therapy with No Waiting Rooms or Driving. Take a quick quiz about your preferences and needs and get matched to a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in Arkansas

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

Have you been in therapy before?

Quick Start Guide

Who Is Eligible?

PRO TIP

Use the State System When You're in Crisis

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Check Out the State System If You Need Specialized Services

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Check With Your Local Program for Accurate Eligibility Information

Where Do You Call to Get Started?

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Important Numbers in Arkansas

Arkansas Mental Health Directory

Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Northwest and North Central Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Region 2: Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Johnson, Perry, Pope, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren, and Yell Counties

Region 5: Crawford, Franklin, Logan, Polk, Sebastian, and Scott Counties

Region 8: Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton, and Washington Counties

Northeast Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Region 7: Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett, Randolph, Sharp, St. Francis, and White Counties

Central Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Region 3: Saline County

Region 6: South Pulaski County (South of the Arkansas River)

Region 9: Lonoke, Prairie, and North Pulaski County (North of the Arkansas River)

Southwest Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Region 1: Clark, Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, and Pike Counties

Region 10: Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Ouachita, Nevada, and Union Counties

Region 12: Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, and Sevier Counties

Southeast Arkansas Clinics and Crisis Lines

Region 4: Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Desha, and Drew Counties

Region 11: Arkansas, Cleveland, Grant, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties

Also Consider: Federally Qualified Health Centers

Troubleshooting Guide

Problems and Solutions

Deep Dive: How Does the System Work?

DEEP DIVE

For More Information

DEEP DIVE

What Is the Structure of the Arkansas Mental Heath System?

DEEP DIVE

A Historic Provider Closes

Conclusion

Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.

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