Retraining Hospital Staff for Work in Community Programs in California

In 1972 the California Department of Mental Hygiene offered special courses to retrain for community work those state hospital employees who might lose their jobs when the hospitals were closed. The courses were conducted by the Centers for Training in Community Psychiatry. The author describes the development, implementation, and structure of the Los Angeles course. He also presents findings that show that while participants considered the course valuable, most opted to return to the state hospital instead of taking jobs they had been offered at community mental health centers. Participants who did take community jobs tended to be slightly younger and better educated and had fewer years of experience in state hospital service than did those who returned to the hospital.