To assist mental health agency leaders and others concerned with state mental health manpower development, these guidelines (presented in ten sections) explore various issues and approaches and indications for using one approach over another. The first three sections focus on designing and conducting manpower studies, making long range projections of manpower needs, and determining elements of manpower utilization. Section 4 examines the trend toward developing career systems that allow workers who demonstrate competency to move from one level to another. The fifth section explores the problem of linking educational institutions to delivery systems so that programs train sufficient persons in needed competencies. Recruitment and selection of persons for specific jobs and for training in the mental health disciplines are discussed in section 6. Section 7 reviews the meaning of licensure and certification, and the following section outlines continuing education program objectives and provider responsibilities. Section 8 addresses the need for coordinated funding and cost effectiveness studies. The final section proposes guidelines for planning and implementing a manpower development program. (Documents on the following aspects of continuing education in mental health are also available: sanctioning and credentialism [CE 019 195], financing [CE 019 196], and needs, assessment, and evaluation [CE 019 197].) (CSS)