The last of a six-volume series on community adjustment of deinstitutionalized mentally retarded people provides a summary of the study's findings and policy recommendations. Findings are described for each of the five preceeding volumes (sample findings in parentheses): a review of the literature (mentally retarded persons have made reasonably good adjustments but problems remain); a profile of national deinstitutionalization patterns 1972-1974 (a larger percentage of the children and youth released were severely or profoundly retarded than the percentage of adults released); deinstitutionalization procedures of 10 institutions (nine institutions reported pre-release programs designed to prepare residents for community placement); community experiences of the discharged residents (group homes were the most common residential setting of non-returnees while foster homes were the most common setting for returnees); and factors associated with community adjustment (level of retardation and age will have direct impact on the person's community adjustment). Recommendations are made for nine policy areas, including institutional release policies for severely and profoundly retarded residents, preparation of residents for community living, and availability of community resources and programs. (CL)