THE CHILD-CARING INSTITUTION WAS THE UNIT OF ANALYSIS IN THIS RESEARCH. INSTRUMENTS WERE DEVELOPED TO OBTAIN BASELINE MEASURES OF THE STRUCTURE OF A LARGE NUMBER OF INSTITUTIONS IN ORDER TO ALLOW COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATED PERFORMANCE OUTCOME SCORES FOR RESIDENT CHILD POPULATIONS AND STAFFS. ADDITIONALLY, THREE DISTINCT EXTERNAL STRATEGIES FOR INDUCING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE WERE DEVELOPED AND INTRODUCED IN A CONTROLLED FASHION OVER 1 YEAR WITH GROUPS OF INSTITUTIONS TO ASSESS THE DEGREE OF RESPONSIVENESS OF DIFFERENTLY STRUCTURED INSTITUTIONS TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXTERNAL CHANGE INITIATIVES. SELECTED INSTITUTIONS IN GEORGIA WERE EVALUATED, AND THE THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE EVALUATION EFFORT IS EXAMINED. INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT IS ASSESSED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF COMMUNITY-ORIENTED CARE. ADEQUATE CHILD COMPETENCE FOR COMMUNITY LIVING IS ALSO ASSESSED, AND EXPERIMENTAL CHANGE PROJECTS DESIGNED TO EVALUATE INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL CHANGE STIMULI ARE DETAILED. IN AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN'S INSTITUTIONS AND THE METHODOLOGY FOR MEASURING CHILD COMPETENCIES, STAFF ORIENTATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE ARE INTRODUCED. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS IS ASSESSED IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT ON RESIDENT CHILDREN. THE IMPACT OF LENGTH OF STAY ON RESIDENTS' COMPETENCY LEVELS, THE EFFECTS OF SPECIFIC INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS ON COMPETENCY LEVELS, AND ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN RESIDENTS' BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPETENCY LEVELS ARE DISCUSSED. INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IN TERMS OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IS ALSO ASSESSED. CHANGE EXPECTATIONS AND CHANGE RATES BY TYPE OF EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT AND TYPE OF INSTITUTION ARE EXAMINED, AND THE SUBSTANCE OF, BARRIERS TO, AND INTERPRETATIONS FROM INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE ARE DISCUSSED. THE IMPACT OF STAFF SERVICE ORIENTATIONS ON INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS ARE ASSESSED. THE QUESTION OF WHETHER THERE IS A GENERAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STAFF ORIENTATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS IS EXPLORED, AND THE PATH OF INFLUENCE AND THE CHILD ASSESSMENT PROCESS ARE DISCUSSED. FINALLY, THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESULTS OF THIS EVALUATION FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE CONSIDERATIONS ARE OUTLINED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT (1) GIVEN THE STATE-OF-THE-ART, MOST CHILDREN'S INSTITUTIONS CANNOT ACHIEVE COMPREHENSIVE EFFECTIVENESS AS IT IS DEFINED IN THIS VOLUME; (2) INSTITUTIONS ARE POWERFUL ENVIRONMENTS; (3) AT ITS PRESENT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT, THE COMMUNITY-ORIENTED INSTITUTION IS NOT A CURE-ALL; AND (4) INCREASING STAFF EFFECTIVENESS MAY NOT INCREASE INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. APPENDIXES CONTAINING TABULAR SUMMARIES AND OTHER RELATIVE DATA ARE PROVIDED. LISTS OF TABLES AND DIAGRAMS ARE INCLUDED, AS IS A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (KBL)