EFFECTS OF MENTAL-HEALTH REFORM ON CLIENT CHARACTERISTICS, CONTINUITYOF CARE AND COMMUNITY TENURE

This article examines the impact of mental health services reform on a spects of service delivery within the State of Washington. Data from t he state Mental Health Division's information systems were used to exa mine client characteristics, continuity of care, and community tenure across a 2-year period spanning the early implementation of services r eform. Findings were that (a) caseloads increased, (b) client characte ristics (gender, age, ethnicity, client priority status) did not chang e much, (c) continuity of services between state hospitals and communi ty services improved a great deal, and (d) hospital admissions and rea dmissions changed only slightly, but discharges increased considerably . If was not clear whether there were changes in time in the community between admissions. These results suggest that there are no indicatio ns of deterioration in services, as might be expected to occur during major system changes, and that in some respects service delivery has b een improved.