DESCRIPTION: Research proposed in this Core seeks to understand which organizational and financial arrangements work best for persons with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness (SMI). There have been a number of major organizational and financial changes in the mental health system during the 1990s. The projects proposed under this Core seek to determine whether these changes are leading toward improvements in the cost-effectiveness of mental health services. The proposed work both expands on previous work conducted by the Center and also moves in new directions. Proposed projects encompass four major policy aims for the Core: 1. Mental health policy; 2. Managed care and mental health; 3. Employers, mental health and disability; 4. System effectiveness.