ABSTRACT
The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 launched what the director of the National Institute of Mental Health termed "one of the most dynamic revolutions in the history of the mental health movement" (Rochefort, 1986, p. 25). The main thrust of this revolution was the release of thousands of individuals from state psychiatric institutions, permanently transforming where and how services would be provided for people with severe and chronic mental illness.1 These changes introduced new demands on service providers to respond to the needs of former patientsneeds for housing, employment, social activity, health care, and all the other hallmarks of living in a noninstitutional setting. In essence, the mental health service system needed to recreate the institution, but without its walls or restrictions.
