The first paper focuses on challenges for the future in serving mentally ill offenders in the community; it notes that fragmented services and poorly conceived treatment interventions can result in mentally ill persons receiving no services at all or receiving inappropriate treatment. Coordinated planning among probation, law enforcement and correctional personnel, mental health agencies, and social service providers can help meet the needs of all parties involved. A review of the research on effective service to mentally ill offenders considers the principles of effective intervention to reduce recidivism and the psychosocial rehabilitation for persons with mental illness; the research base also suggests recommendations for appropriate services for mentally disordered offenders. A paper on services for parolees with serious mental illness discusses barriers to obtaining community-based services, core principles for effective programming, New York's broad-based approach, and intensive case management for high-risk parolees. Other papers focus on a program to help mentally ill offenders develop greater self- reliance, a State-level approach to special needs offenders, a transitional living center, forensic case management services, and how to access Federal disability resources. Notes and references accompany some of the papers