This document is a transcript of hearings conducted in Hartford, Connecticut, before the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Handicapped on the effects of deinstitutionalization of the mentally retarded. The bulk of the testimony was given by Connecticut officials and leaders in the mental health field. They presented evidence and case histories about the progress that has been made in closing mammoth state hospitals and placing the former residents in apartment and group homes in communities throughout the state. They indicated that many of the former hospital patients had made good adjustments and were being accepted by the community. In opposition to the state's official deinstitutionalization policy, parents of more severely retarded children testified that they want some larger facilities for the mentally retarded to remain open. They are involved in lawsuits to stop the state from closing some of the intermediate-sized facilities which they feel are the only realistic living arrangements for their children. They fear that deinstitutionalization would lead to ridicule and abandonment in a community setting. (The hearings were a prelude to eventual consideration of reauthorization of Title IX legislation.) (KC)