National Dialogues on Behavioral Health Annual Conference

In recent years, the annual program, in recognition of growing needs, has refocused. National Dialogues on Behavioral Healthcare (NDBH), proceeds from this premise. NDBH also holds another distinction. Although not generally known, the concept of mental health program evaluation was fostered and developed in SRCMHS during its first 25 years. By 1983, SRCMHS’s 25th anniversary, program evaluation was well established nationally by NIMH, and most states had developed program evaluation functions. Harold McPheeters, then director of mental health at SREB and a former Kentucky mental health commissioner, chronicled this progress for the 1983 conference.