Two Regional Mental Health Treatment Facilities: A Reanalysis of Evaluation of Services

One of the major social programs of the 1960s was the development of community mental health centers. As with most early attempts at evaluation, the results were pessimistic. This article reanalyzes one of the earliest, and best-known, evaluations of a community-based treatment facility. Following the conceptual framework of Campbell and his associates, it was found that the various threats to the validity of the findings indicate a consistent and systematic bias against detecting a positive effect for the new mental health center. In light of recent federal legislation mandating formal evaluations, appropriate procedures are discussed.