BALANCED SERVICE SYSTEM AND THE PLANNING OF COMMUNITY MENTAL-HEALTH-PROGRAMS

Mental health administrators struggle to provide comprehensive programs despite the uneven resources available for each service element. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (J.C.A.H.) has influenced this process by establishing the Balanced Service System as the analytic framework for determining whether community mental health programs meet minimal standards. This model specifies the eight service functions required to eliminate or reduce mental disabilities and the continuum of environments in which the services can be provided. The utility of the J.C.A.H. model was tested in western Pennsylvania. The study found that although the number of agencies serving the mentally ill doubled between 1960 and 1976, the relative availbility of each service component remained remarkably stable. Similarly, the environments within which services were provided remained essentially unchanged during this period. Implications of these data for needs assessment and resource deployment are considered. © 1979 Human Sciences Press.