Archives West Finding Aid

This collection contains records from various Divisions, Bureaus, and Programs within the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services records were integrated under one collection number to help facilitate access and reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog. Please note that some materials in the following groups may have originated in the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Public Welfare, or other predecessor agencies.

To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup, please click on the links below in the arrangement section to be redirected to those finding aids.

Subgroup 1: Director's Office Division

This subgroup (1977-2002) is comprised of records from the Director’s Office. It contains court papers (1977-1989), press releases (1993-2002), subject files (1994-1997, topics include the 1997 Legislature and Families Achieving Independence in Montana (FAIM)), and clippings (1998-2002).

Subgroup 2: Child and Family Services Division

This subgroup (1987-2005) is comprised of records from the Child and Family Services Division. It contains manuals, manual updates and bulletins, and internal communications about manuals for the programs of the Child and Family Services Division. These include Food Stamps (including FAIM), Aid for Families with Dependent Children, Medical Assistance, and the Family Medicaid Program, as well as a general Child and Family Services manual.

Subgroup 3: Human and Community Services Division

This subgroup (1935-2001) is comprised of records from the Human and Community Services Division. It contains minutes, expenditures, and related records of the Beaverhead, Blaine, Cascade, Gallatin, Hill, Liberty, and Madison County Welfare Boards. It also contains correspondence, minutes, reports, subject files, and printed materials of the Human and Community Services Division, and day care provider case files of the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Subgroup 4: Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division

This subgroup (1977-1999) is comprised of records from the Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division (formerly named Disabilities Services Division and Developmental Services Division). It contains correspondence, covering topics such as child abuse, AIDS, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Health Care Financing Administration, and more; reports, quarterly reports, and subject files on topics such as the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center, Family Child Care Choices Project, Developmental Education Assistance Program, Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory Council, and Montana University Affiliated Programs.

This subgroup also contains records of the defunct Addictive & Mental Disorders Division (1983-2002). The collection was processed separately, as this was originally a distinct Division that is now a part of the Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division. Records include correspondence, reports, and subject files. Also included are case files of the Mental Health Managed Care Advisory group and the Mental Health Access Plan Advisory Group, as well as case files pertaining to the Montana State Hospital campus redesign project of the 1990s.

Subgroup 5: Senior and Long-Term Care Division

This subgroup (1978-2006) is comprised of records from the Senior and Long-Term Care Division. It contains correspondence, including incoming and outgoing correspondence related to the Division, reports, including area plans, area grants, and state plans, as well as subject files, including adult protective services, Alzheimer’s disease, tribal elder abuse, and other related topics.

Subgroup 6: Montana State Hospital

The subgroup (1877-1973) includes materials related to the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, Montana and its governing body, the Montana State Board of Commissioners for the Insane, from 1877 to 1973. The Montana State Hospital formerly operated within the Department of Institutions, but it was transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services in 1995.

The hospital operated under a variety of names including Mitchell and Mussigbrod, Insane Asylum of the State of Montana, Montana State Hospital for the Insane, Montana State Insane Asylum, Montana State Hospital, and Warm Springs State Hospital. The Hospital records include patient registers, dockets, the history of the hospital, scrapbooks, correspondence, financial records, and legal documents. The Board records are primarily correspondence, meeting minutes, and physicians certificates. RESTRICTION: Patient records are confidential and privileged (M.C.A. 53-21-166) but may be used for research under the administrative rule adopted by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Contact the Montana Historical Society Archives for details.

Subgroup 7: Office of Inspector General

This subgroup (1976-1998) is comprised of records from the Office of Inspector General (formerly Quality Assurance Division). It contains subject files, including revised versions of manuals for programs on Food Stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, and the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP), and court papers on Fair Hearings Trials. Please note that some information has been marked as restricted due to the presence of social security numbers.

Subgroup 8: Health Coalition (Advisory Council)

This subgroup (1990-2002) is comprised of records from the Health Coalition (formerly Healthcare Advisory Council), an Advisory Board to DPHHS. It contains minutes, agendas, handouts, member lists, charters, and other related materials.

Subgroup 9: Montana State Board of Health (Predecessor Agency)

This subgroup (1907-1994) is comprised of records from the Montana State Board of Health and the Board of Health and Environmental Sciences. The State Board of Health became the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences (DHES) in 1971 with the passage of Governor Anderson’s Executive Reorganization Order 9-71. Records consist of minutes, reports, licensing laws, as well as materials from the Food and Drug Division, including correspondence, court papers, press releases, field investigations, speeches, subject files and miscellany.