State mental health directors' priorities for mental health care

The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors surveyed all state mental health directors, through a series of mail questionnaires, to determine their national priorities for mental health care in the 1980s. In a ranking of 62 issues, the directors considered the top two priorities to be providing services and support programs in the community for the chronically mentally ill. Other highly ranked priorities included developing community residential programs, assuring continuation and funding of programs in a period of financial retrenchment, and developing a continuum of services for children and adolescents. A cluster analysis showed that within the overall group four different patterns of priorities emerged: issues related to certification and accreditation, to expansion of community programs both with and without a decrease in institution-based care, and to financial accountability.