A regional evaluation of citizen mental health boards

This is a report of an evaluation of citizen board functioning in an eighty-county region. Included in the study were seven county mental health boards, four state hospital boards, one community mental health center and four metropolitan catchment area boards. Board effectiveness criteria (knowledge of mental health legislation, policy-making effectiveness, knowledge of the community and agency procedures, organizational effectiveness) are related to demographic and ideological profiles for each board. Board effectiveness was measured by the Self-Diagnosis Guidelines (Institute for Voluntary Organizations, 1977). Board ideology was assessed with the Community Mental Health Ideology Scale (Baker & Schulberg, 1969). Results indicated that: (1) boards were generally not representative of their communities; (2) most boards saw themselves as only marginally effective; (3) the low self-ratings of boards were due to deficiencies in crucial areas of board responsibility; (4) there were significant differences in effectiveness among boards; and (5) board members reported less support for community mental health philosophy than some professional groups. Implications of the findings for mental health policy and legislation were drawn.