This book of objectives, one of a series designed to provide a competency-based analysis of employment categories in human services, deals with the core competencies necessary for health care workers. Addressed in the individual sections of the volume are the following skill areas: communication skills, professional attitudes and responsibilities, client care and training, knowledge of mental retardation, provision of physical care, planning and supervision, provision of a safe environment, and principles and practices of service delivery. Each section contains a main objective and a series of enabling objectives that are cross-referenced to evaluation criteria and to independence and importance rating scales. The independence scale indicates the degree of supervision that an individual could expect when performing the job task. The scale of importance designates each objective as being either prerequisite (i.e., knowledge or skills that individuals must bring with them to be adequately prepared for the job role), critical (i.e., objectives that are essential to competent performance on the job--areas of skill or knowledge that individuals must possess to develop during their work experience), or enrichment (i.e., objectives that are not essential but add to a comprehensive understanding of the job and more flexible and skillful job performance). Also included in the volume is a discussion of the method used to identify the objectives. (MN)