In the early 1960's, residents of the mid-Monongahela Valley had no access to social services unless they could travel 25 miles to the respective county seats of the Valley's three counties. Concerned local leaders, in association with the United Way, enlisted the University of Pittsburgh to examine this problem and suggest a remedy. This study recommended that a local umbrella agency be established to develop a human service system, so the Mon Valley United Way formed Mon Valley United Health Services, Inc. in 1964 with an initial grant of $23,000.00.

The first program offered by the new agency was a visiting nurse service. During the next several years, Mon Valley United Health Services, Inc. developed additional service programs including child day care, family planning, mental health/mental retardation and aging services as well as a corporate framework to deliver these services to the area.

Community leaders soon realized that a new facility would be necessary to house this expanding service system. In 1965, the city of Monessen created the Mon Valley Health & Welfare Authority, which assumed responsibility to develop the Mon Valley Community Health Center. Construction began in the summer of 1969 and was completed in June, 1971.

By the early seventies, with a service delivery system in place, leaders established a mechanism to coordinate long-range planning, research and development of other health and social services. In 1971, with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare the Mon Valley Health and Welfare Council, Inc. was formed. Over the next several years, the Council's primary role was to develop a coordinated approach to the area's human service system by bringing together all the appropriate service providers, community groups and other interested parties.

Both the Mon Valley Health & Welfare Council, Inc. and Mon Valley United Health Services, Inc. enjoyed tremendous growth in the 1970's. Existing programs grew to meet the increasing demand for services; new programs developed; and the service areas expanded into four counties. In 1978, the Mon Valley Health and Welfare Authority added two additional floors to the Health Center in order to accommodate the space needs of its service providers.

Due to a decline in Federal support for health and human services in the early 1980's management and the Boards of Directors realized that it would be necessary to cut costs and consolidate resources. In 1984, the Boards of Directors of United Health Services and the Health & Welfare Council initiated a year-long corporate reorganization study which concluded that a parent corporation, in which administrative activities were centralized, would be more cost- effective and efficient than the two separate organizations. Following the recommendations of this study ;the Boards jointly implemented a new corporate structure from the consolidation of Mon Valley United Health Services, Inc. and the Mon Valley Health & Welfare Council, Inc. and formed Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services, Inc. (SPHS) and affiliated corporations. Over the past decade the constellation of affiliates has changed but a collaborative effort to provide human services continues among the seven corporations that now constitutes the SPHS system.

Today, the SPHS system serves approximately 40,000 citizens each year and assists people in all age groups and of varying socio-economic status. Using a coordinated methodology, agency staff assist clients to plan a range of services that address their needs. Examples include Westmoreland County Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), Early Intervention services, a Family Planning Clinic and Primary Care. SPHS offers a comprehensive Mental Health program including clinical, partial hospitalization and residential programs as well as services for persons with developmental disabilities in center, residential and home settings, as well as treatment and intervention services for substance abuse. SPHS Health Plus, Inc. serves patients in their homes through home health programs which include nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, home health aides, speech therapy and medical social work. One of the agency's strongest and most comprehensive endeavors focuses on older adults. The SPHS Area Agency on Aging plans and manages an extensive network of programs for three counties. SPHS also provides direct services to the aging, including center services, programs for the homebound, long-term care activities and assistance to care givers. Finally, a homeless assistance program not only provides emergency shelters, transitional and permanent housing and links homeless individuals to needed resources both within and outside of the SPHS system.