This project explored influences of the service delivery system on the distribution, especially the rural-urban distribution, of mental health practitioners in public settings. Research was planned as a two-phase pilot study--an ethnographic phase (open-ended interviews and day-long observations at 14 mental health agencies) and a survey phase (two-part questionnaire sent to 90 facilities, one part on staffing patterns and another filled out by staff members). With few exceptions, all retention rates appeared high with no clear differences for rural and urban facilities. Urban facilities fared better at filling position vacancies. Rural and urban centers were found to differ from each other and from state psychiatric hospitals in the ways they organized staff and in patterns of utilization. Differences between rural and urban hospitals and between hospitals and mental health centers were also investigated. Standards for job performance and success differed across the facilities. Both rural and urban "successful" centers were found to share a well-defined and clear-operating system of organization and strong community support. (Issues and ideas for mental health program administration are discussed. Suggestions are also made for training of mental health professionals for rural versus urban practice. Instruments are appended.) (YLB)