The Inaugural Midwestern Mental Health in Corrections Symposium was held at the Officer's Club at Fort Leavenworth. Nearly 100 mental health and correctional staff attended this meeting. The fee was minimal, and presenters were drawn entirely from the staff of the sponsoring institutions. No speakers were compensated for their services. The core organizing group of mental health professionals felt the response underscored and validated the perception of the need for additional training opportunities related to correctional mental health. A common perception was that other groups focused on pre-trial or other forms of forensic training; however, the issues relevant to practitioners working within corrections were not being addressed. The CEO's at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks and the U.S. Penitentiary pledged the necessary funding and administrative support for a second Symposium.

The Second Midwestern Mental Health in Corrections Symposium was held in the Spring of 1992 in Kansas City, Missouri. In order to attract a more nationwide audience, contacts were developed with two nationally-recognized keynote speakers who were placed on the agenda. A nationwide mailing list was developed and notification of the Symposium was made to roughly 2,000 correctional facilities and mental health professionals working in corrections throughout the United States. More than 200 paid participants attended.  Once again, the CEO's from the U.S. Penitentiary and U.S. Disciplinary Barracks renewed their support for another year.

A change in the Symposium title occurred in the Spring of 1993. The title of the event was changed to the Annual Mental Health in Corrections Symposium, thus eliminating the need to answer calls about when symposia were scheduled for other regions. Nationally-recognized keynote speakers received stipends; however, most presenters remained individuals who volunteered to make relevant presentations. Costs for the event were minimized though governmental support and in-kind donations which covered all costs associated with informational and other mailings as well as audio-visual and ancillary expenses. In excess of 300 paid attendees from 26 states, nine Department of Defense correctional facilities and 32 Federal prisons attended. The respective CEO's applauded the effort, encouraged the continuation of the Symposium as a training event, yet also suggested that the fiscal environment was such that the Symposium would need to become self-supporting. In response to this directive, the chief organizers from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks and U.S. Penitentiary formed a training committee entitled the Mental Health in Corrections Consortium (MHCC). The MHCC Board of Directors was established in 1993 to manage the training and missions of the MHCC.

In the Fall of 1993 the American Correctional Health Services Association (ACHSA) requested that MHCC co-sponsor the planned ACHSA conference in Kansas City, Missouri, in June 1994. The ACHSA Executive Board agreed to cover all up front expenses and conducted all formal contracting. In excess of 450 individuals attended this meeting. Many illuminating lessons were learned by MHCC in co-sponsoring this event with ACHSA. Most importantly, it became clear that if MHCC and the annual Symposium were to survive, it was imperative that MHCC move to formalize its corporate existence and professional standing.

MHCC was incorporated in the state of Kansas and registered as a non-profit entity under IRS code 501.c(3). Another major step taken by MHCC, Inc. in 1994 was the decision to retain the services of Martin Fromm & Associates (MF&A) of Kansas City, Missouri, to provide conference/organizational management services. MF&A has decades of experience managing groups of varying sizes and backgrounds and their involvement has proved to be invaluable. Their assistance enabled the MHCC Board of Directors to focus on the missions and vision rather than the day-to-day aspects of managing a nationwide training event and professional association. To improve MHCC's operations, the development of an Advisory Board of professional members of the professional and business community was begun. MHCC's first Advisory Board members were James Hough of Independence/Herald House Press, and Gary McWillliams of Corrections Medical Services.

The Fifth Annual Symposium was the first sponsored entirely independently by MHCC as a not-for-profit organization. Again, Kansas City, Missouri, served as venue for what remained the only national training event devoted entirely to mental health and substance abuse issues in correctional settings. MHCC remained committed to its primary goal of providing focused training on topics related to substance abuse and mental health issues relevant to correctional professionals and inmate populations. The continued responses to solicitations for presentations and attendance numbers served to evidence that niche being filled was real. Additionally, participant comments began to reflect that the opportunities for networking and expanding professional contacts were unplanned benefits that were important to a devoted nucleus of regular attendees.

The unanticipated sale and subsequent loss of the contract with the hotel scheduled as the Symposium site was a true calamity in 1996. The Sixth Annual Symposium could have been the, "Symposium that Wasn’t ," except for the valiant crisis responses of MF&A and the flexibility of the participants and presentors. Although there was short notice change of location and timing, the Symposium was a success. The Symposium format of intensive pre-conference workshops directed toward specific interest groups proved to be one of the most popular Symposium features and was retained.

At the 1997 symposium it was announced that MHCC had taken over the responsibility of publishing a 43 year old professional journal. MHCC has published and mailed two issues of the journal under the previous title Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy. The journal was the official publication of the American Association of Mental Health Professionals in Corrections. The journal has taken on a new look under MHCC’s ownership. The Journal’s title will be changed to the Journal of MHCC and the journal will be the official publication of the Association of Criminal Justice Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals. Association members receive the journal free with a paid membership. In addition to the journal, association members will receive a discount to annual symposia, an annual directory and newsletter.

Also, the association has posted a web page (www.mhcca.org) where individuals will be able to become members and register "on-line" for future symposia. The Journal of MHCC and its archives will be available on the homepage in the future. MHCC plans to have an interactive site for the exchange of ideas and comments. There also will be helpful information and links to selected related web sites.

MHCC is strengthening old relationships and forming professional alliances with the American Correctional Association, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and the American Association for Correctional Psychologists. MHCC is, on an ongoing basis, seeking other affiliations and strategic alliances that will further the mission and vision of MHCC and its partners.

Based on its historical roots, philosophies, broad experience and the fact the MHCC Board of Directors have been/or are treatment providers; MHCC provides consulting and training for other governmental and private organizations.

1997 proved to be another seminal year for MHCC. Continuing its evolution as a professional organization MHCC rewrote its Bylaws to reflect a membership-driven foundation. The name became MHCC: An Association of Criminal Justice Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Professionals. What began in early 1990 as a problem - followed by discussion and a proposed solution - and the invitation for a few local Kansas and Missouri colleagues to join us at the Fort Leavenworth Officer’s Club to share ideas at a symposium . . . has now, some seven years later, become an association. More specifically, the only association to provide an international platform and united voice to address the needs and concerns of a critical and rapidly growing professional segment of criminal justice professionals.