OLDER MOTHERS WHO DO NOT USE DAY PROGRAMS FOR THEIR DAUGHTERS AND SONS WITH MENTAL-RETARDATION

We have previously reported those that do not use available day servic es differ in many important ways from mothers of offspring who use the se services (Smith et al., 1994). The present study extends our earlie r work by examining whether or not significant differences exist betwe en two distinct subgroups among the mothers of offspring who are not p resently using day services: those who never used day services (n = 37 ) and those who withdrew from use (n = 22). Findings suggest that the oldest mothers who never rued day services for their offspring probabl y gave birth to their child when only institutional care was readily a vailable. On the other hand, perceptions of the service system caused mothers in the group who withdrew their offspring to have increased se nsitivity to inadequacy of programs and to feel greater need for addit ional services. Practices and policies to recruit these hard-to-reach families as clients are essential.