Saint Louis Mental Health Board

What Saint Louis Mental Health Board does

The Saint Louis Mental Health Board is a voter-established government entity in St. Louis City, Missouri, created in 1992 when city voters approved property taxes to fund mental health services, with revenue flowing beginning in 1994. It administers two dedicated property tax funds — the Mental Health Fund and the Children's Services Fund — and, as of the latest period, oversees an annual budget most plausibly in the $25M–$50M range that is redeployed through grants, contracts, and forgivable loans to a network of more than 45 nonprofit providers serving city residents. Since 1992 the Board has deployed in excess of $200 million in total grant capital, including approximately $2.9 million in 10-year forgivable loans that produced 170 permanent supportive housing units across 15 sites, extending the organization beyond pure grantmaking into direct real-asset development.

The Board operates with a small administrative team of approximately 17 staff and provides backbone administrative and convening support for cross-system initiatives including the Vision for Play Coalition (VPC) and ReCAST, and directly manages a four-year SAMHSA System of Care cooperative agreement for the St. Louis region. Its 2020 expansion of the Children's Services Fund added roughly $2.3 million of new annual capacity directed to early childhood programs. Leadership has rotated across three executive directors — Don Cuvo (1994–2012), Jama Dodson (2012–2021), and Cassandra Kaufman (2021–present) — and the organization has relocated offices in 2013 and 2023 to accommodate staff growth. The technology footprint is limited to a third-party grant management platform (GrantInterface); there is no proprietary technology product, no AI/ML capability, and no commercial offering, as the Board's role is statutory fund administration rather than market-based service delivery.

Name

Saint Louis Mental Health Board

Legal name

St. Louis Mental Health Board

Website

https://stlmhb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Saint Louis Mental Health Board is a St. Louis City government entity that administers voter-approved property taxes to fund mental health and children's services through grants to 45+ nonprofits and permanent supportive housing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Grant Administration

NAICS

Health and Welfare Funds (525120), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral Health & Substance Use Program Funding (Public Health) (HLAJALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health Benefit Administration (MBHO Core) (HLAEAHAA)

Keywords

• Behavioral health funding
• Mental health grants
• Children's services fund
• Property tax administration
• Nonprofit grantmaking

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Property Tax Administration: Administers two special property taxes to fund behavioral health and children's services for St. Louis City residents. The Mental Health Fund and Children's Services Fund are funded through property tax revenue.
2. Grant Funding: Awards grants to nonprofits and organizations supporting behavioral health, children's services, and permanent supportive housing. Since FY11, MHB has supported permanent supportive housing through 10-year forgivable loans.

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Saint Louis Mental Health Board (MHB) is a government entity that administers two voter-approved special property taxes — the Mental Health Fund and the Community Children's Services Fund — and invests the proceeds in behavioral health and children's services for St. Louis City residents. It does this primarily by awarding grants and 10-year forgivable loans to 45+ local nonprofit organizations, and by providing backbone support to cross-sector initiatives such as violence prevention, permanent supportive housing, and trauma-informed care.

Product overview

Saint Louis Mental Health Board (MHB) is a government nonprofit organization that administers two special property taxes to fund behavioral health and children's services for St. Louis City residents. The organization operates a portfolio of funding programs including the Children's Services Fund and Mental Health Fund, alongside strategic initiatives such as Permanent Supportive Housing, the St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission, St. Louis ReCAST, and the System of Care St. Louis Region. MHB collaborates with 45+ nonprofit organizations and has invested over $200 million in grants since its founding in 1992. The organization also provides an online Funded Partner Grant Portal for grant management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mental Health Fund A voter-approved special property tax fund that finances behavioral health services for St. Louis City residents. Administered by MHB and distributed via grants and partnerships to 45+ nonprofit organizations.
• Children's Services Fund (Community Children's Services Fund) A dedicated property tax fund approved by voters in 2004 to support children's services in St. Louis City, with expanded funding since November 2020 dedicated to early childhood programs.
• Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Program A program offering 10-year forgivable loans to renovate or construct housing sites that combine affordable housing with supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness.
• Funded Partner Grant Portal An online portal (powered by GrantInterface) where funded nonprofit partners can log in to manage their grants, applications, and reporting with MHB.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $200 million in grants invested since 1992
• +3 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• 45+ Nonprofit OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHB collaborates with 45+ nonprofit organizations to expand access to behavioral health and children's services across St. Louis. These funded partners deliver direct services to city residents through grant funding.
• Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSH collaborated with St. Louis to set a goal of 1,227 units of Permanent Supportive Housing, with 882 units specifically for populations with serious mental illness. MHB supports this goal through funding.
• St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission (VPC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHB provides backbone support and staffing to the VPC, a regional effort to align, convene and connect organizations addressing gun violence prevention and reduction. The VPC promotes coordinated interventions among area governments, institutions and nonprofit agencies.
• City of St. Louis Department of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHB partners with the City of St. Louis Department of Health to coordinate St. Louis ReCAST (Resilience in Communities After Stress and Trauma) projects for community well-being in the St. Louis Promise Zone.
• St. Louis County Department of Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHB partners with St. Louis County Department of Public Health (SAMHSA Grant Recipient) for the St. Louis ReCAST initiative, focusing on the St. Louis Promise Zone in North City and North County.
• U.S. Department of HHS / SAMHSAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMHB manages a four-year cooperative agreement through SAMHSA to expand the region's Children's Mental Health System of Care (SOC), a collaborative network focused on the total health of children and families with, or at risk for, serious emotional disorders.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health: Largest county-operated public mental health authority in the United States. Operates a publicly funded behavioral health system with broad county-wide mandate, directly comparable to MHB's role as a publicly funded behavioral health funder for St. Louis City, though at substantially larger scale.
• New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: Municipal public health authority that administers behavioral health and mental hygiene programming at citywide scale. Comparable as a public-sector entity that deploys dedicated funding streams into behavioral health programs and partner providers for a defined municipal population.
• National Council for Mental Wellbeing: National membership and advocacy organization for behavioral health providers and county authorities. Comparable in advocating for and convening publicly funded mental health systems at scale, including many entities that operate similarly to MHB at the county level.
• San Francisco Department of Public Health - Behavioral Health Services: City-level public behavioral health authority administering publicly funded mental health and substance use services. Shares MHB's positioning as a city-chartered funder and overseer of behavioral health grants and programs within a single municipality.

Direct peers

• Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH): National nonprofit that partners with MHB on the city's permanent supportive housing strategy. Operates as a funder, technical assistance provider, and convener for supportive housing, comparable to MHB's backbone role in coordinating the 1,227-unit PSH initiative.
• Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD: Community mental health authority serving Harris County, Texas residents. Functions as a publicly funded behavioral health services and funding entity, structurally analogous to MHB's combination of public funding administration and backbone convening for mental health and IDD services.
• Thresholds: Large Chicago-based nonprofit providing mental health, substance use, and supportive housing services. Comparable to MHB's downstream partners in mission and population served; relevant peer for understanding the nonprofit service-delivery ecosystem MHB funds.

Emerging players

• Mental Health America: National nonprofit focused on mental health promotion, early identification, and access to care. Adjacent to MHB's mission of expanding behavioral health access for a defined population, with overlapping concerns around children's mental health and community-based funding models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stlmhb
• Facebookfacebook.com/stlmhb
• Instagraminstagram.com/saintlouismhb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/saint-louis-mental-health-board

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Saint Louis Mental Health Board