How We Set Up a Child Evaluation Clinic in a Medium-Sized Community.

The paper discusses how to set up a child evaluation clinic in a medium-sized community in the United States. The key person in such a venture should be a pediatrician who has a special interest in child development, mental retardation, and the psychologic problems of children. The next step should be to find an organization in the community which can be made interested in mental health. The services of a clinical psychologist were secured by persuading the Director of Special Education at the local Board of Education to relinquish one-fifth of a psychologist's contract in order that she might work one day a week at the proposed clinic. After recruiting the staff, the project was presented to the local County Medical Society for their approval. The services of the clinic are available to all children of the county who have behavior disorders, emotional problems, developmental problems, difficulties in school, or mental retardation.