From Humble Beginnings

In 1973, Jefferson County had few social service agencies or alternatives for the legal system. Counseling was expensive and only available by traveling to St. Louis. Alcohol or other drug counseling was almost unavailable at any price. The county needed professional mental health services, but did not have the finances to create an agency to provide them.

One of the first men to recognize the need was Judge John Anderson. Anderson, W.H.S. (Stu) O'Brien, a public defender, and the District Supervisor of State Probation and Parole, Melvin G. Williams, met on an informal basis numerous times lamenting the lack of assistance to the judicial system. The three men decided to create a not-for-profit corporation that would build a halfway house, the most immediate need seen. Other community needs would be addressed later. Enlisting the aid of attorneys Brent Williams and G. William Weier and Jefferson County Sheriff Walter "Buck" Buerger, the papers were filed. The Articles of Incorporation were approved and the Corporation was created on January 22, 1973. The agency's goal was "to reduce recidivism... and allow the community to participate in his reintegration into the community." The corporation advertised for an Executive Director.

The group picked Stephen F. Huss, chairman of the Social Studies Department of Hillsboro Secondary School for the job of Executive Director. He began in March 1973, serving without pay until the agency became financially viable. Stu O'Brien and John Anderson both contributed $5 to open a checking account--instructions were given to Huss to make it grow. The group began efforts to obtain publicity and funding. This effort focused on the theme "People Need People", explained the purpose of the center, gave a rationale for community care and solicited donations under the Federal 501 C3 status recently obtained. The agency’s legal name, Community Treatment Incorporated was shortened to COMTREA—the first syllables of each word. Thus, COMTREA came into being.

Williams sought assistance from the Region V Missouri Law Enforcement Assistance Council and Huss approached the Division of Alcoholism on the Missouri Department of Mental Health for financial aid.

The honeymoon period ended in September 1973 when COMTREA selected an old meat-packing building in Festus for the site of the proposed halfway house. While Senator Eagleton headlined a box-lunch auction for the agency, and State Representatives and other county political figures supported the effort, community opposition increased due to the visibility of the proposed site in the middle of downtown Festus. The Board stood by the site in spite of personal attacks and continued the effort to secure funds. The last newspaper article in 1974 that dealt with the agency announced: "COMTREA Means Hope in Jefferson County" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

1976 became the pivotal year for COMTREA. A disastrous fire gutted the building on February 22. Like a phoenix, COMTREA arose stronger. The community understood what it would lose without the center. It rallied around the agency. The year also brought a finalization of its future direction. The residential program had been funded by a combination of Probation and Parole money and Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse money. However, the Probation office wanted all the beds and was willing to pay a substantial amount more than the DADA. Huss approached the Board with the idea that COMTREA should forgo the lucrative Probation contract money on principle. After much discussion, the Board committed to becoming the community mental health center for the county. COMTREA chose to develop along the lines of the mental health system rather than legal system because of the increasing community demands for professional counseling on an out-client basis in the areas of psychiatric, family problems, and child abuse. Schools began referring children to the agency and the community recognized COMTREA as being responsive to the community demands for services.

COMTREA developed a stable (although inadequate) funding source for the agency--the Missouri Department of Mental Health. It was one of the first programs in Missouri to be certified by the DMH. "COMTREA Becomes Integral Part of Twin Cities'" read the headlines in early 1978. In cooperation with the St. Louis State Hospital, COMTREA initiated psychiatric counseling for those who needed medication.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health designated COMTREA as the Community Mental Health Center for Jefferson County (Service Area 22) in 1978. Also during the year, the agency took over the small St. Louis State Hospital Outreach Center in Hillsboro's County Health Clinic. In 1981, one newspaper headline stated "Growth and Change Make COMTREA Indispensable." Unfortunately, President Reagan's massive cuts in alcohol and drug funding forced the closing of the Resident Program and the elimination of the Saint Louis branch office.

In 1983, the DMH asked COMTREA to direct the counseling for dioxin and flood victims in the Times Beach area in addition to its other duties. Two days after being contacted, COMTREA staff began assisting traumatized community members in Times Beach.

In April 1984, COMTREA secured the passage of a marriage and divorce fee for the support of abuse victims in Jefferson County and began a jail counseling program. Mental Health Month, May, brought a Family Day and a celebrity auction that used items donated by Willie Nelson, President Ford, Alan Alda, Billy Graham, Pat Boone, Ray Charles and others. The Serendipity Singers were brought in for a concert.

In 1986, the agency became the ninth in the state to be certified by the Missouri Department of Mental Health for Psychiatric Services. From the middle of April until August 5, COMTREA staff and over two hundred volunteers worked toward the passage of the $.10 tax. The issue passed with almost 60 percent of the vote, losing only three rural precincts out of 80. This guaranteed $800,000+ per year for mental health services to the county. In September, the County Commission appointed the COMTREA Board as the Community Mental Health Fund Board for the county as the presiding County Commissioner as a member. In October, COMTREA purchased property on Armbruster Road near Athena/DeSoto for the residential program mandated by the DADA. The property included a 4100 sq.ft. home, an outbuilding, 18 acres and a stocked pond. Staff spent the remainder of the year working on and developing the Spouse Abuse Shelter, residential chemical abuse treatment, and expanding other programs.

In 1988, the Jefferson County Day Treatment Program for children who were severely emotionally disturbed and severely behaviorally disordered opened six months after a group of educators met with COMTREA. That same year, Dr. Huss had an article published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The article, "Fighting Drug Abuse the Wrong Way," focused on the need for an overall attack on chemical use and abuse using prevention, education, outreach, case finding and treatment.

The Development of Mental Health Care in Jefferson County

In 1973, the only Mental Health Care in Jefferson County was a Saint Louis State Hospital resident who came to the Health Center in Hillsboro on Wednesday afternoons to distribute drugs. Among the many issues not addressed was that of alcohol and other drug abuse. Judge John Anderson, Probation Supervisor Melvin Williams, Public Defender W.H.S. Stu Obrien, Sheriff Buck Burger, Prosecuting Attorney G. William Weier, and attorney Brent Williams incorporated an agency that, they hoped, would address these problems. In February, 1973, they chose Stephen F. Huss, an activist Social Studies Teacher from Hillsboro to join them in the founding of Community Treatment Inc. (COMTREA).

For thirteen months, Huss worked without pay to develop the first program, residential treatment for boys ages seventeen to twenty-five. After grants, a state contract with the Division of Alcoholism and local funding had been secured, it opened in June, 1974.

It quickly became obvious to the COMTREA leadership that Jefferson County had a great many unmet mental health needs. With the Board’s permission and encouragement, Huss began addressing them as needs were identified and funding streams developed. The services developed during the first few years focused mostly on service to those with Substance Use Disorders: individual, group and family counseling, prevention efforts, evaluations for schools and courts, Drunk Driver programs, police training and neighborhood seminars. COMTREA soon became a well-known and admired agency across Missouri and drew positive national attention from ABC World News.

By 1985 it became apparent addressing mental illness and domestic violence services were critical needs in Jefferson County. The lack of funding to address the concerns also became obvious. The County Government (administrative court at that time) formally recognized COMTREA as its Jefferson County Community Mental Health Center. They believed the agency would be more likely to obtain grants, secure state funding and generate donations than any public entity that they could create. COMTREA became a line item in the County Budget. The State of Missouri’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) soon recognized COMTREA as its Service Area Authority/Representative for Service Area 22 (Jefferson County). Additional funding and public responsibility accompanied the designation.

In 1986 COMTREA, with the encouragement of the County and the DMH, successfully passed a mil tax for mental health care. The State Statute encouraged counties to make the local mental health center boards like COMTREA serve also as the Community Mental Health Fund Boards. This was encouraged in order to assure a seamless “system of care” between the State DMH and local communities.
 After the passage of the tax, now “Dr.” Stephen Huss, led the agency into areas not previously possible. A domestic violence shelter was created, locations were opened in High Ridge and Arnold, and the mission statement created: “COMTREA will serve as an innovative, effective and responsive community treatment center for Jefferson County.” Over the next few years, COMTREA introduced Divorce Education programs, treated victims of the 1993 flood, opened the Keaton Center psychiatric nursing home, facilitated the creation of Behavioral Health Response, a regional mental health call center, took over a bankrupt adolescent residential treatment center, created a Child Advocacy Center that provided forensic sexual abuse evaluations for the legal systems of nine Missouri counties, helped develop a County Drug Court and, later, a County Mental Health Court.

 Dr. Huss secured a grant to establish wide-spread mental health counseling and early intervention to students in county schools—the third “School Liaison” program in the nation. He presented the COMTREA/Seven Habits model to an international symposium in 2001 and later received the National Behavioral Health Care Community Collaboration Award.

 By 2004, it became again apparent that funding for the needs of the county, especially children, was woefully inadequate. COMTREA’s School Liaisons had been an innovative, highly successful program that needed financial stability and expansion. Dr. Huss and a team of DMH Service Area authorities were successful in passing legislation that allowed counties to enact a sales tax for children’s services. The statutes were amended to allow either “local existing CMHC Boards” or “to be established County Boards” be responsible for the distribution of funds. Jefferson County chose to retain COMTREA’s CMHC Board as the local authority with some modifications. COMTREA was still the Jefferson County Community Mental Health Care Center and responsible for creating a “system of care” for the citizens.

 Between 2004 and 2016, COMTREA drew national attention when First Lady Roslyn Carter visited and asked COMTREA to present at an international domestic violence conference. Huss also seized an opportunity to have COMTREA purchase forty-five acres of land inside the city limits of the county seat with a promise of the donation of fifteen more acres at a later date. But, the major issue COMTREA had to contend with was the lack of medical care for its growing mental health care patient population. Diabetes, high blood pressure or other medical conditions threatened psychiatric stability among its thousands of patients. A group of county service and political leaders asked Dr. Huss to lead an effort to obtain a Federally Qualified Health Center for Jefferson County. After numerous “starts and stops,” the group finally asked COMTREA to become the FQHC. Dr. Huss presented this idea to the senior staff and Board who both approved it. The effort was successful and COMTREA became an FQHC in 2013.

 Before Dr. Huss retired in January, 2016, COMTREA further expanded and began providing dental and medical care to those in need regardless of the ability to pay. Of particular significance was the creation of integrated health and behavioral health care within several school systems. The COMTREA school model drew positive state and national attention.