The purpose of the study is to determine the types of siting strategies used by mental health administrators in establishing group housing for the persistently mentally ill, to determine if certain strategies are associated with neighborhood opposition or acceptance to housing sites, and to examine the relationship of such strategies to the frequency and nature of group home residents' interactions with their neighbors. Traditionally, mental health agencies have employed strategies that range along a continuum from """"""""autonomous"""""""" approaches in which no neighbors are notified in advance of the siting to """"""""collaborative"""""""" approaches in which some level of neighborhood notification precedes the opening of the site. The project will survey mental health administrators and group home supervisors in five states to determine the types of siting strategies used in their most recent housing development, neighborhood reactions to the site, and the types of neighborhood activities in which housing residents are involved. Neighborhood residents will also be interviewed to examine their attitudes toward residential housing for the persistently mentally ill.
