Information is provided on Florida's mental retardation facilities and programs, and specific recommendations and guidelines are given for the expansion and improvement of services. The following are specified: basic principles for the care of the mentally retarded; recommendations for legislative action, training centers, research, community action, and other public and private agencies and institutions; the development of state residential institutions; the nature of mental retardation, its causes, characteristics, degrees, and prevalence; and prevention, case finding, diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Also detailed are community and residential services; an enriched program of special education for the retarded, including training, rehabilitation, and employment; recommendations for research centers; a new legal concept of the retarded and dissemination of information to opinion-making groups; coordination of services on federal, state, and local levels; and commitments to needed areas of action. In all, 131 recommendations are made. Seven appendixes and a 39-item bibliography are provided. (BA)