Governor McMaster signed legislation forming the SC Department of Behavioral Health, unifying mental health and disabilities services.
CAYCE, S.C. โ Governor Henry McMaster on Tuesday signed legislation creating the South Carolina Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (BHDD), completing what some officials call the most significant restructuring of state government in more than three decades.
Joined by lawmakers, agency heads, and other officials for a ceremonial bill signing at the State House, McMaster hailed the passage of S. 2 as a milestone that will streamline services for South Carolinians seeking behavioral health care.
The new cabinet-level agency consolidates three formerly separate entities: the Department of Mental Health (DMH), the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN), and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS). Prior to this change, DMH and DDSN operated under boards of commissioners without direct accountability to the governor.
The reform also builds on McMasterโs 2023 restructuring of the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which created two cabinet agencies: the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Environmental Services.
The new agency, BHDD, will include three primary offices:
Each office will be led by a director appointed by the BHDD director, who is in turn appointed by the governor with Senate approval.
The director of the agency has not been selected just yet. The director will have to be appointed by the governor with the permission of the senate.
The restructuring initiative originated in 2023, when McMaster called for an independent review of South Carolinaโs behavioral health system. That review found the state had the most fragmented system in the country.
The new BHDD is headquartered on the stateโs health campus in Cayce, alongside DPH. Together, the two agencies employ approximately 1,300 peopleโ861 with DPH and around 450 with BHDD.
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