This paper highlights what the authors believe are the important issues and directions of change in the evaluation of mental health programs. The rationale for such evaluation is twofold. First, it provides a scientifically rigorous method of determining the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment or program, and secondly, these results can exercise…

Presented is an analysis of cost benefit factors in special education showing that special education for persons with handicaps of varying severity leads to decreased dependency, increased economic self sufficiency, and longterm cost effectiveness. Considered are the following aspects: education as human capital investment, the economic benefits…

Forty-two mentally retarded adults (mean age 33 years) from three state schools were studied for almost four years, from the time they were resettled at a community residence in a large city, in order to evaluate whether changes in behavior, attitudes, and social relationships would occur as a result of deinstitutionalization. (Author/PHR)

Available from: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut Street, Norwood, New Jersey 07648. Two groups (36 Ss) of educable and trainable mentally retarded adolescents in an institution were compared with two groups (38 Ss) of nonretarded children (ages 8-9 years old) on a modified tic-tac-toe game for foresight in logical problem solving. (MH)

Used teleconferencing to provide three-week long community college course on personality development, values, self-concept, coping, and communication skills to 14 elderly nursing home residents. Five participants chosen to illustrate diverse responses to class all showed increased involvement with others, gains in integration of new dependencies…

This report summarizes AISD's 2004-2005 federal Title I funded activities and students served in facilities for neglected youth or facilities for delinquent youth in the Austin attendance zones.

The mentally retarded child usually has a significant effect on his/her family, particularly on siblings, who need classes to learn how to cope with their situation and to share their feelings so positive attitudes can be fostered. (MH)

Suggests that the hospice approach includes several elements that can be utilized to improve the quality of life in nursing homes: a total needs emphasis, increased patient autonomy, open discussion of death, a community ideology, a team orientation, a role blurring of caregivers, and focus on patients and families. (Author)

The outcomes of deinstitutionalization programs for criminals and the mentally ill have not matched expectations. Community alternatives have become extensions of the penal system. For the chronically mentally ill, granting the negative right of freedom from organized interference has often meant denial of the right to care and attention.…

While total ontask behavior distinguished institutionalized children from children in community schools and special classes, it did not differentiate retarded children in community based classrooms from one another. (Author/SB)

Tested typology classifying 326 incarcerated delinquent boys as buoyant or beset, depending on their level of anxiety and depression at intake. Findings revealed that two types of boys differed in some aspects of life history and personality, buoyant type adjusted better to institution's group-oriented treatment approach, buoyant and beset boys…

Examines nineteenth-century psychiatric institutions in the Netherlands, focusing on institutions for difficult and neglected children. Considers these areas: (1) background and character of committals; (2) scientific, professional, legal, and financial contexts; and (3) the scope and course of reformatory schooling and healing. (DB)

Review of a New Mexico study on factors discriminating between recidivist and resilient youth following incarceration led to development of guidelines for fostering resiliency by correctional educators. Specific guidelines address lesson planning, classroom management, and revising educational goals. (DB)

A modified cooperative learning methodology was implemented with 12 boys at a residential treatment center for oppositional adolescents. Despite their volatile behavior, limited self-control, deficient prosocial skills, and lack of group experience, they responded positively to the experience. The model is felt to effectively enhance cooperation,…