Outpatient service use in minority-serving mental health programs

To evaluate the impact of participation in a minority-serving mental health program on patterns of service utilization, data on approximately 25,000 clients from a large, ethnically diverse mental health system were examined over three successive fiscal years. Clients seen in programs with higher rates of non-white participation received more outpatient care but less case management than clients seen elsewhere. The results were obtained after controlling for sociodemographic and clinical variables including treatment in an ethnic or language-matched dyad. Whether by selection and training of staff, administrative policy, operating style, program atmosphere or case-mix, minority-serving programs appear to promote distinctive patterns of utilization.