The need for a more responsive service system for people who are both mentally ill and homeless is a salient concern in America today. Preliminary research was conducted to examine how homeless mentally ill persons are processed by the currently organized network of human services in the nation's capital. Data were gathered in the summer of 1985 through semi-structured interviews of a purposive, stratified sample of 85 District of Columbia service providers, representing a wide range of human services, including psychiatric, medical welfare, rehabilitation, religion, law enforcement, and homeless shelters. Descriptive analyses of the data showed that referral pathways varied as a function of point of entry into the service network, severity of presenting symptoms (acute versus chronic mental illness), and whether there was a clear cut systemic focal point of responsibility for service provision. Differential referral patterns emerged in the handling of acute versus chronic mentally ill homeless persons. Nearly one-half of the referrals for chronics were inappropriate in contrast to one-fourth of those for acutes. The centrality of three systems to the service network for this population was observed: community mental health centers (CMHCs) and service programs, general hospitals, and shelters. Overall resource utilization patterns suggest overreliance on general hospitals as a panacea for the problems of homeless mentally ill persons, indiscriminate dumping on shelters, and underuse of CMHCs as a system of comprehensive care. (Author/NB)