Due to the high cost of professional services for the emotionally disturbed it is often the case that community-based aftercare programs for this population rely heavily on the use of volunteers to provide direct supportive functions. This study used a structured interview to attempt to describe the perceptions of volunteers of the informal…

The demographic characteristics of the typical volunteer, taken from the personnel files of 208 current and previous volunteers of a Big Brothers agency, indicate the following profile. The modal Big Brother is usually Anglo-American, is a young adult aged 18 to 25, is a student or a full-time employed person, has some college education, lives in…

Despite its significance, the field of informal peer counseling remains relatively unexplored. This study focused on the therapeutic responses that laymen give to and desire from their peers. In two separate studies, S's indicated their reactions to scripts presented in booklets or on tapes. S's were instructed to respond to these scripts as if…

In this symposium, six professionals present related papers on community mental health. The first discusses the role of student personnel services in enhancing community mental health. This is followed by a report concerning the role of the college counseling center. Other papers in the symposium include discussions of: (1) the role of the student…

The speaker notes the increasingly important role that fringe benefits are playing in the collective bargaining process and offers examples of the costs--both direct and indirect--of these benefits--both economic and "noneconomic"--from his district. The speaker's district put a lid on the costs of fringe benefits by setting a fixed…

This paper describes the current status of a helping skills program designed to train mental health paraprofessionals in relationship-building skills. Six skills were identified as the basis of the training program: (1) understanding the need to be a helper; (2) using effective nonverbal behavior; (3) using effective verbal behavior; (4) using…

This paper reports on a longitudinal Model Cities Project at Baltimore, the objective of which was to determine the effectiveness of the process of rehabilitation of handicapped persons residing in the Model Cities area when vocational rehabilitation (VR) counselors assisted by rehabilitation aides were located within such area. The research…

Discussed is the use of The Adaptive Behavior Checklist (ABCL) in assessing the functioning level of retarded persons and helping to develop individualized curricula. Advantages of The ABCL are seen to include ease of administration and modification as the child progressed, and the ability of close contact personnel to give and interpret…

Current and projected manpower shortages within the field of mental health suggest a greater role for paraprofessionals. But, without careful evaluation and precise training, added manpower will not solve any of the problems facing psychology in overcoming the limits to the delivery of services. These two papers review several attempts to evaluate…

This paper attempts to discuss several unresolved issues currently of concern in the utilization and training of paraprofessionals. It examines, briefly, three well-known training programs, and elaborates on a fourth, focusing on the objectives and processes of the training. While there is considerable overlap among the programs, especially in…

This speech discusses client advocacy, a paraprofessional service offered in many community mental health centers to help bridge the gap between therapist and client. While having an advocate on the mental health team is an attractive idea, these client advocates are quite susceptible to "corruption." The author discusses two major causes of this…

This paper describes a Behavior Modification Training Program, emphasizing self-control, for staff working with drug addicts. The program, which is primarily geared toward training paraprofessionals, takes place in 10 one-and-a-half hour sessions and includes an overview of behavior modification as well as instruction in behavior control,…

Designed to help bridge the gap between selected Appalachian communities (17 control and 18 experimental Kentucky communities) and the more affluent U.S. society, the Appalachian Community Impact Project (ACIP) used indigenous paraprofessionals, backed by Extension personnel, to work at the community level. It was hypothesized that by using…

Described is the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Home Oriented Preschool Education (HOPE), program which began as a model preschool program and later shifted to development of support materials for use with young children. Use in the program of paraprofessional home visitors, educational television programs and weekly classroom experiences is…

Staff development programs are needed in community colleges as a result of stabilizing enrollments, decreased faculty mobility, technological and disciplinary changes, student population changes, and the need for professional variety and personal growth. Suggestions concerning the role of the speech-communication teacher in staff development are…