CMHC's: relationships with academia and the state

We have surveyed all community mental health centers (CMHC's), state departments of mental health, and university departments of psychiatry in the country to ascertain the status of their relationships with one another. The response rate to a one page questionnaire was 33%. An overwhelming percentage, 88%, of CMHC's have relationships with state hospitals and/or academia. Most often they consist of a service relationship. The control for such relationships is most often shared or there is no one controlling organization. The benefits of such relationships include improved communication, improved access to state hospitals, and improved quality of inpatient and outpatient care. CMHC's who responded to our survey did not think that relationships with the state or academia resulted in improved recruitment of psychiatrists and improved residency training--but state and academic respondents did. All, however, agreed that research, long-term care, and recruitment of other staff are minimally improved by collaborative relationships.