ABSTRACT
The initial plan for community care was developed by the National Institute of Mental Health and consisted of case managers who would manage all of the services needed for people with severe and persistent mental disorders, thus allowing them to continue living in the community. A. Doyle, J. Lanoil, and K. Dudek report that in 1948, prior to the inception of the concept of community mental health centers and community residential facilities, patients discharged from a New York psychiatric hospital gathered to discuss alternate programs to treat persons with behavioral health challenges. The social awareness and medical advances that originated the concept of community care centers in the United States were also the driving forces behind normalization theory. Success and failure of community residential programs is also dependent on the community and its resources functioning as a system. For example, differences in rural settings versus urban settings and circumstances and resources of each community can create different outcomes.
