RG 021, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services

Inventory of Records

Finding aid prepared by Connecticut State Library staff.

Copyright © 2007 by the Connecticut State Library

Historical Note

The Department of Mental Health was established on October 1, 1953. It succeeded the Joint Committee of State Mental Hospitals comprising representatives from the Boards of Trustees of the State Mental Hospitals: the first at Middletown in 1867, called Connecticut Hospital for the Insane, now known as Connecticut Valley Hospital (CVH); the next, in 1904, Norwich State Hospital; the third, beginning in 1933, Fairfield Hills State Hospital, and finally in 1953, Connecticut Child Study and Treatment Home. Norwich State Hospital and Fairfield Hills were closed down. The Department of Mental Health combined the State Mental Hospitals into one department. In 1975, children's psychiatric services was transferred from the Department of Mental Health to the Department of Children and Youth Services, which was later called the Department of Children and Families (DCF). On July 1, 1995, the Department of Mental Health was absorbed into the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services from the former Department of Public Health and Addiction Services. This is the “single state agency for providing comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services throughout Connecticut.”

See also the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Agency History.

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Scope and Content

Contains records relating to Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane/Connecticut Valley Hospital; Division of Alcohol and Drug Dependence Division; Commission on Alcoholism; Associate Commissioner. Child and Adolescent; Joint Board of Mental Health; Council of Mental Health; Fairfield Hills Hospital; Norwich State Hospital; Commissioner's files. Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane/Connecticut Valley Hospital contain superintendents files, 1867-1960; trustees minutes, 1866-1961; fiscal files, 1889-1943; Personnel records, 1874-1941; patient files, 1916-1965; medical staff records, 1901-1951; school of nursing records, 1904-1939; miscellaneous material, 1889-1976; and manual for practical nursing procedures, 1928.

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Arrangement

Series 1. Connecticut State Hospital for the Insane/Connecticut Valley Hospital, 1866-1976, 224.75 cubic feet
Accession: 1990-018, Records, 1866-1976, 22 cubic feet
Accession: 1999-038, Practical Nursing Procedures, 1928, 1 booklet
Accession: 2000-015, Patient files, 1962-1965 (discharge dates), 201 cubic feet
Accession: 1999-183, Photographs, 1914-1967, 1.75 cubic feet

Series 2. Alcohol and Drug Dependence Division, 1956-1979, 22 cubic feet
Accession: 1983-022, Subject and grant files, circa 1956-1979, 3 cubic feet
Accession: 1983-022, State Advisory Board minutes, 1962-1975, 1 folder
Accession: 2005-020, Community in-service centers, 1959-1979, 19 cubic feet

Series 3. Commission on Alcoholism, 1945-1959, Accession: 1983-022, 0.50 cubic feet

Series 4. Associate Commissioner. Child and Adolescent, 1964-1976, Accession: 1987-031, 3 cubic feet

Series 5. Joint Board of Mental Health, 1948-1951, Accession: T000947, 2 folders

Series 6. Council of Mental Health, 1952-1957, Accession: T000947, 0.75 cubic feet (8 folders)

Series 7. Fairfield Hills Hospital, 1933-1976, 17.5 cubic feet
Accession: 1996-021, Log books, registers, personnel records, 1933-1976, 14.5 cubic feet
Accession: 1999-174, Personnel files, 1943, 3 cubic feet

Series 8. Norwich State Hospital, 1904-1944, 1961, 1963, 1965-1966, 640 cubic feet
Accession: 1993-008, Patient records. Discharges, 1909-1940, 17 cubic feet
Accession: 1993-020, Patient records. Discharges, 1904-1944, 1961, 174 cubic feet
Accession: 2000-015, Patient records. Discharges, 1904-1944, 1963, 1965-1966, 442 cubic feet
Accession: 2006-037, Blueprints, 3 cubic feet (2 poster boxes)
Accession: T000708, Blueprints, 4 cubic feet (2 oversize bundles)

Series 9. Commissioner's files, 1958-1994, Accession: 2003-035, 17 cubic feet

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Patient records which include: Connecticut Valley Hospital [Connecticut Hospital for the Insane], Patient Files, 1962 - 1965 [discharge and death dates]; Fairfield Hills Hospital, Admission and Discharge Registers, 1933 - 1972; Norwich State Hospital, Patient Files, 1904 - 1966 [discharge dates which include dates of deaths] are available to the following researchers:
1) Patients upon receipt of satisfactory proof of identity.
2) Bona fide scholars who take responsibility for non - disclosure of personally identifiable data. The researcher should contact the State Archivist prior to visiting the Library to describe the scope of his/her project and procedures for access. Prior to examining the records, the researcher must agree in writing on a form provided by the State Archivist that he/she will not disclose personally identifiable information in them.
3) Members of the family of a former patient upon receiving satisfactory proof of identity provided the records are more than 75 years old or the patient is deceased.
If researchers have questions or wish to discuss projects, please contact Mark Jones, State Archivist at mjones@cslib.org, by letter, or by phone at (860) 757 - 6511.

These records are stored at an off-site facility and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

See the Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records and Secured Collections policy.

Restrictions on Use

See the Reproduction and Publications of State Library Collections policy.

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Related Material

None.

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Index Terms

Organizations:

Subjects:

Document Types:

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Container List