IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING THE MODEL DESCRIBED, CONSUMER GROUPS IN THE KEARNY MESA SUBREGIONAL AREA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIF., WERE SURVEYED. SPECIALLY DESIGNED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE SENT TO EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CONSUMER GROUPS: MENTAL HEALTH AGENCIES, SECONDARY RELATED AGENCIES, COMMUNITY AND CIVIC GROUPS, COMMUNITY-AT-LARGE, AND HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS. IN ORDER TO DEVELOP AN UNCOMPLICATED METHOD FOR SETTING PRIORITIES THAT COULD BE USED BY PROGRAM PLANNERS WITH LIMITED TIME AND EXPERTISE, THE EXPRESSED UNMET NEEDS FOR CRISIS INTERVENTION AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES WERE ANALYZED FOR EACH GROUP. A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AND RANKING OF THE NEEDED SERVICES WERE TABULATED SEPARATELY FOR THE FIVE CONSUMER GROUPS SURVEYED. IN ADDITION, AN ANALYSIS OF THE AVERAGE EXPRESSION OF NEED (AEN) ACROSS THE FIVE GROUPS PROVIDED A MEANS OF OBSERVING THE MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED CRISIS AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS. FOR THE ADULT GROUP, THE THREE MOST FREQUENTLY EXPRESSED NEEDS WERE FOR SOCIAL SERVICES RELATED TO FAMILY AND MARITAL PROBLEMS, GENERAL EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS, AND ALCOHOLISM. FOR THE AGE GROUP 65 YEARS AND OLDER, THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEMS WERE FOUND TO BE LONELINESS AND DEPRESSION, GENERAL EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS, AND ALCOHOLISM. EACH OF THE FIVE CONSUMER GROUPS CONSISTENTLY RANKED THE ABOVE PROBLEMS FOR ALL THREE AGE GROUPS AS POSSESSING THE GREATEST NEED FOR ADDITIONAL SERVICES. FACTORS THAT MUST BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION PRIOR TO DETERMINING THE USEFULNESS OF THE RESULTS FOR PROGRAM PLANNING ARE INDICATED. (E.G., WEIGHTING RESPONSES, VALIDITY OF MAILED QUESTIONNAIRES, ABILITY OF HIGH-RISK INDIVIDUALS TO COMPLY WITH SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS). THE DATA FROM THE SURVEY ARE GRAPHED. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (RCB)