The NIMH Approach to Evaluating the Community Mental Health Centers Program

Abstract

COMMUNITY mental health centers have probably stimulated more interest and ex- citement than any other mental health program in history.The volume of journal articles and books, the new training programs, and the rhetoric of the day all testify to the program's major impact upon the mental health scene.As of July 1972, 493 community mental health centers had staffing or construction grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, Health Services and Mental Health Administration, and of these 325 are in operation.When all these funded centers begin providing services, they will serve areas inhabited by more than 68 million people.These centers are located in every State, the District of Colum- bia, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and they cover areas ranging from the inner city to rural farmlandsabout 35 percent of all the rural counties in the United States are within the catchment areas of the community mental health centers already funded.As increasing numbers of community mental health centers have come into operation, they