THE DEMAND FOR GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE FIELD OF MENTAL HEALTH WAS REFLECTED BY EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED IN A BILL INCORPORATED IN THE CALIFORNIA WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE. FOR THE FIVE-COUNTY STUDY OF MODES OF SERVICE AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, THE MAJOR DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT WAS A SET OF THREE CLIENT EPISODE OUTCOME SUMMARY FORMS. THE FIVE COUNTIES ENCOMPASSED BOTH SMALL AND LARGE COUNTIES IN TERMS OF GEOGRAPHIC AREA, POPULATION DENSITY, PERCENTAGE OF LOW-INCOME FAMILIES, AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION. DURING THE COURSE OF THE STUDY, CLINICIANS PROVIDED SERVICE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY FORMS FOR ABOUT 22,000 TREATMENT EPISODES. AS OF JANUARY 1, 1975, DUE TO THE USE OF THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT IN THE FIVE COUNTIES, ALL COUNTY-OPERATED AND COUNTY-CONTRACTED PROVIDERS WERE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A CLIENT EPISODE OUTCOME SUMMARY FORM ON ALL SERVICE EPISODES WHERE EVALUATION, TREATMENT, OR MAINTENANCE SERVICES WERE FUNDED TOTALLY OR PARTIALLY BY MEDI-CAL FUNDS. A MANAGEMENT REVIEW PROCESS HAS BEEN INSTITUTED TO MINIMIZE THE SUBJECTIVE ELEMENT IN THE EVALUATIVE REVIEW PROCESS. MANAGEMENT REVIEW IS A STRUCTURED PROCESS THROUGH WHICH SELECTED ASPECTS OF A LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM CAN BE ASSESSED IN A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME AND WITH LIMITED STAFF. THE PROCESS IS STRUCTURED BY A PROTOCOL CONTAINING 17 PROVISIONAL STANDARDS. EACH STANDARD IS ORGANIZED AS FOLLOWS: IT IS STATED IN TERMS THAT SPECIFY THE SCOPE AND INTENT OF THE REVIEW OF THAT STANDARD; IT CONTAINS DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE TO BE COMPILED FOR USE IN ASSESSING COMPLIANCE OF THE LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM WITH THE PROVISIONAL STANDARD; IT RATES CRITERIA ON WHICH JUDGMENTS OF COMPLIANCE ARE BASED; AND IT DEFINES TERMS USED IN THE PROVISIONAL STANDARD. PROCEDURES FOLLOWED IN THE MANAGEMENT REVIEW PROCESS, FROM INITIATION TO COMPLETION, ARE DETAILED. (DEP)