Society has the duty to treat nondangerous mentally ill persons who are unwilling to commit themselves for treatment. There should be safeguards against unwarranted commitment. The role of a caring family and the impact of nontreatment upon that family should be considered. (Author)

The study compared the characteristics of individuals residing in either institutional or community settings in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and one regional center in California. The results show that the more severely mentally retarded persons, with their attendant handicaps and maladaptive behavior, are still likely to be found in an…

Ward residents view their dwelling as less secure and feel less able to control social encounters than do single room residents. Single room residents express greater desires for isolation and disclosure restriction. Data are consistent with an adaptation model of privacy-sociability preference. (Author)

Minimal service sheltered housing with peripatetic services adjusted to individual need may be more acceptable to the majority of elderly. The key program element in the British model is a resident warden, a housewife whose training and presence assures a proper and consistent flow of peripatetic support services. (Author)

The mother of a moderately mentally handicapped son describes her decision to place her child in residential care. The author discusses her adjustment on learning of her son's handicap and how, after 10 years, she is confident that the decision she made was right for her family. (PHR)

Examines various ways in which child-care workers can work with families of children in residential centers to facilitate children's early return home. (CM)

Presents the case history of a 13-year-old asthmatic boy in residential treatment in order to illustrate how experiences in the milieu can become a vehicle for a child to gain better control over separation anxiety. (CM)

Appraises foster care and advocates its change from a largely custodial system to one that is essentially treatment-oriented. Development of a placement continuum from least intrusive (day care) to most intrusive (hospitalization), with a variety of intermediate options including foster home care, is crucial. (NH)

To attack their community's homeless student problem, the Houston Board of Education last February opened a "lighted schoolhouse" as a temporary shelter. Houston's superintendent, Joan Raymond, is convinced that more school districts will need to provide residential care. The 20 children using the shelter were turned over to Children's…

Interviews were conducted with 45 Israeli social workers who were case managers for 105 children in residential care because of parental absence or inadequate care. Interviews indicated that the practice of home weekends is characterized by neglect in professional assurance of the well-being of children and lack of family-oriented intervention…

This study is a companion to a larger study of older adults who had made residential relocations that involved moving from one level of independence to another level. The current study examined the degree to which older individuals perceived their moves to be important, controllable, stressful, disruptive, and positive. (Author)

Reflecting on his early days in youth work, Dr. Henry Maier discusses his days on the front lines at Pioneer House as a young colleague of Fritz Redl and David Wineman. Pioneer House, in Detroit Michigan, was a home for boys that provided a treatment approach to behavior problems. (BF)

A 26-item Resident Choice Scale was designed to assess service practices for promoting resident choice. The staff working with 560 UK-Irish adults with intellectual disability were interviewed. Specific examples of practices promoting resident choice were requested and independently rated by the interviewer. The interrater reliability of Resident…

A system of care for children and youth with severe emotional and behavioural disorders, as outlined by Stroul & Friedman (1986, 1994) has been mandated for social service providers in the province of Manitoba. However, this model of service delivery has not been entirely effective in promoting collaboration among service providers. In this…

This paper focuses on whether running away from adolescent residential care facilities is related to having off grounds passes with an adult resource. It was hypothesized that as off grounds passes increased in frequency and duration, runaway behavior would decrease in frequency and duration. Data were collected from two hundred closed client…