Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in South Carolina

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

Even if you’re not in crisis, you can call your 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 free information about other affordable local providers.

Programs called community mental health centers (CMHCs) provide state-funded outpatient mental health care in South Carolina. In general, all you need to be eligible for services at a CMHC is a mental health condition that is affecting your ability to function in your daily life. It doesn’t necessarily have to be severe as long as it is having an impact.

However, whether you can get the services you need at a CMHC depends on how well-funded and staffed your local program is at the time. South Carolina doesn’t have strict statewide eligibility criteria for public mental health services, but it does prioritize admission for people who have serious mental illness (SMI).

One of the most important requirements you need to meet to get services at a CMHC is to be a resident of the region it serves.

It’s a great option if you’re a local resident with a public insurance plan. All South Carolina CMHCs accept Medicaid, and it can be hard to find other providers who do. They also accept Medicare and many commercial insurance plans.

Most South Carolina CMHCs also offer affordable sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance. Your local CMHC may be able to provide therapy to you at a discounted rate if you are a county resident and don’t have insurance they accept.

Most CMHCs in South Carolina offer therapy and other basic outpatient mental health services like medication and psychiatric assessment.  You can also get specialty services like case management and day treatment at most CMHCs if you’re eligible for them.

In South Carolina, you only qualify for case management if you have severe and persistent mental illness. The only insurance that covers case management is Medicaid.

Availability of counseling and other clinical services depends on each CMHC’s funding and staff at any given time. Sometimes, when funding or staffing is low, public mental health programs have to cut or limit particular services. At other times, they may have a long waitlist.

Since eligibility and which services are available vary from program to program, it’s worth calling your local CMHC to find out whether they might be the right match for you. You can find the number for your CMHC 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. People who work at CMHCs 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.

The best way to learn more about state mental healthcare in South Carolina is to call your local CMHC directly. You can find contact information for all South Carolina community mental health centers in the directory in the next section.

You can also call the Department of Mental Health or the statewide crisis response line. Some CMHCs have their own crisis lines, but the state crisis line works for all locations. You can find the numbers for the state crisis line and other statewide helplines and hotlines in the information box directly below.

Public mental health services in South Carolina are managed on the state level by the Department of Mental Health. For general information about South Carolina’s system, you can call the DMH general information line at (803) 898-8581.

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

Public outpatient mental health services in South Carolina are provided by programs called community mental health centers. Many of these historic programs have served their communities for decades. There are 46 counties in South Carolina and 16 CMHCs that serve those counties.

Each CMHC has a phone number you can call to get information about local mental health services or get help in a crisis. You can find the numbers for all South Carolina CMHCs and local crisis lines in the directory below.

Some CMHCs have 24-hour crisis lines, while some only have daytime crisis lines. If you need help when your local crisis line isn’t available, you can call the statewide 24-hour crisis hotline at (833) 364-2274. You can also call 988 for 24-hour crisis support.

If you need help or information after hours but you aren’t sure whether you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s okay to call a crisis line for help. The staff who answer are trained to quickly figure out what you need and can tell you what steps you need to take to connect with the right services.

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

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.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 46 percent of people in South Carolina 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 state mental health services, call your local CMHC or a state or local mental health hotline. You may find out you can get mental health services at a CMHC 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.