A community mental health accountability scale

Abstract

An Accountability Questionnaire was administered to administrators, service providers, and board members of 50 community mental health centers. The results, using cluster analysis techniques, yielded an Accountability Scale of 22 items. Four clusters with satisfactory discriminative validity were extracted: (a) Importance of Program Evaluation; (b) Satisfaction with State Monitoring Procedures; (c) Traditional Clinical versus Community Psychology Concerns; (d) Agency Preservation versus External Accountability. Analyses of variance indicated that board members, staff, and administrators differed significantly in their scores on each cluster. The Accountability Scale is a potential tool for community mental health agencies in assessing intraorganizational attitudes concerning accountability and has implications for administrative planning and evaluation.