History

Allwell Behavioral Health Services, a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation, is the primary, designated behavioral health agency under contract with the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board serving Coshocton, Guernsey, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, and Perry counties in Southeastern Ohio. These six counties are largely rural Appalachia with a total population of over 226,000. Allwell is certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (ODMHAS) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).

Allwell is the result of a merger between Six County, Inc. and Thompkins Treatment, Inc. in October 2016. The merger expanded the workforce to 280 employees and provided a more comprehensive and efficient resource for all ages in the community. Allwell is able to offer over 25 services including primary care, medication management, counseling, case management, day treatment, crisis and hotline services, peer recovery support, inpatient support, vocational and employment services, housing, residential treatment, consultation, education, consumer-operated programs, and more.

Six County, Inc. began in 1958 as the Muskingum Mental Health Association. Over the years our name has changed multiple times: Muskingum Valley Guidance Center (1960); Muskingum Comprehensive Mental Health Center (1969); Six County Community Mental Health Services (1979); Six County, Inc. (1986).

For the first two years, services were only available to residents of Muskingum County, until Coshocton County provided $2,500 a year to support a clinic in Coshocton. With the passage of the Federal Mental Health Act in 1963, which was established to open Comprehensive Mental Health Centers, we were able to expand services to Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Perry Counties.

In 1964 the Muskingum Valley Guidance Center Board of Directors successfully passed a levy in Muskingum County to build a new Guidance Center in Zanesville. Throughout the years, all six counties have passed levies to assure that their citizens will have comprehensive mental health services. These funds support behavioral health and addiction treatments through board contracted agencies in the area, and in compliance with standards set by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

One of the agencies benefiting from this relationship was Thompkins Treatment, Inc., which was formed in 1982 as a 12-bed residential mental health treatment facility for boys and girls ages 12 through 18. The official name of the facility was the “Muskingum Area Adolescent Treatment Center”, more commonly known as “The Thompkins Center” in honor of David Thompkins, Executive Director of the Muskingum Area Mental Health Board who was instrumental in securing funding for the program.

In 1990, the agency expanded to include two transitional living homes and a therapeutic foster care network. The agency was re-named Muskingum Area Adolescent Treatment Services, Inc., and the residential center continued to be called the Thompkins Center. The name of the agency was changed to Thompkins Child & Adolescent Services, Inc. in honor of David Thompkins upon his retirement. The agency continued to grow, establishing outpatient offices in six counties providing counseling, case management, and psychiatric services.