As a part of the plan for Mental Health Manpower development for the State of Rhode Island (Department of Social Gerontological Research), a patient assessment survey of a random sample of the interviewable patients at the Institute of Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) in Rhode Island was conducted by the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged (HRCA). Analysis of the two samples separately using a multivariate clustering methodology with a clinical review revealed two distinct typologies, with no overlap in the types of clients found across the two samples. Among in-patients, 70% or six of the 10 types were judged able to return to the community, given needed supports. Among CMHC clients, less than 10% were over age 60, only 30% had ever been hospitalized, and only four of the 10 client types (27% of the sample) were judged vulnerable for future hospitalization. A separate survey of CMHC and IMH staff revealed that not only are CMHCs not serving chronic elderly patients, but that they are not currently performing the necessary tasks to effect the planned deinstitutionalization of such IMH patients. (Author)