ABSTRACT
Having read the papers in this book describing innovative programs for those who are homeless and mentally ill, we are both impressed and sobered.
We are impressed, first, that this field has come a long way in a short time, a good example of a rapid services research response to a perceived need for inIormation about what does and does not work. The McKinney projects were all innovative, but perhaps more important, they were all bold. They attempted to assemble seemingly diverse pieces from CMHCs, consumer advocacy, mobile treatment, housing services, etc., into coherent programs. As we have seen, some were more successful than others in this effort. But even in those which were least successful, there is a wealth of information on how to undertake a study of this sort - and how not to.
