Preparation of mental health personnel for the delivery of mental retardation services

Abstract

The developmental experience of an urban community mental health-mental retardation center is presented as a guiding model for other community mental health centers interested in "tooling up" their mental retardation services. Surveying personnel needs, establishing educational objectives tailored to personnel, presenting specific knowledge about mental retardation, clarifying mandates for community mental health-mental retardation service, and two conceptual frameworks for service delivery are elaborated.