Illustrating modern community mental health philosophy, this article asserts that the term "client" is preferable to that of "patient" because it implies some measure of personal responsibility, does not carry the connotation of "mental patient", and is a respectable reference to those who patronize community mental health services. (JC)

Discusses contextual factors (geography, community idiosyncrasies, personal relationships, formal resource scarcity, community resource accessibility, external force influence, visibility, "Jack-of-All-Trades") affecting practices of rural child welfare workers. Points out similarities/differences in child welfare work in urban and rural…