Directions for the future of Menninger children's services: summary of group discussions.

As part of the planning process for a new facility for children and adolescents at Menninger, a working conference on the Future of Mental Health Services for Children and the Role of Psychiatric Hospitalization in the Treatment of Emotionally Disturbed Children was convened August 24-25, 1989, at The Menninger Clinic. Four discussion groups met during the conference, and the authors summarize the central ideas emerging from those groups. They focus on the understanding of the Menninger mission, the need for both a continuum of care and continuity of care, physical requirements of the new facility, economic issues, and the critical role of research.