Families caring for a young adult with mental retardation: service needs and urgency of community living requests.

Service needs of families caring for 571 individuals with mental retardation (ages 20 to 24) during the transition into adulthood was described, with an emphasis on the urgency of requests for community state-supported living services. Results of a multiple regression analysis suggested that requests for community living were related more to family stressors than to characteristics of the young adult or participation in regular daytime activities. Most families also requested daytime services and at least one type of social support. The services most requested were those representing normalizing activities, and the major reasons for seeking them involved promoting the young adults' independence.