An evaluation of short-term hostel care for severely mentally handicapped children

SUMMARY: Short-term care for mentally handicapped children is proving to be a valuable resource in helping families keep such children at home. An evaluation of a hostel offering such care showed that irregularity of use was a problem but also offered an opportunity of extending such care to the 16–19 years age group. Families were found to be very relieved to have the use of such a facility and much preferred it to similar care in a hospital setting.