The Community Mental Health Centers Program: Expectations and Realities

The Community Mental Health Centers Amendments of 1975, which greatly expanded the kinds of services centers must offer, will be reviewed by Congress this winter. In anticipation of the renewal hearings, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Council of Community Mental Health Centers held a two-day workshop to evaluate the impact of the law, the expectations for the CMHC program, and the realities. Workshop participants focused on funding and training issues as well as problems of accountability and administration. Following is a report of that meeting, written by its co-chairmen.