The 1960's showed a surge of efforts to develop more creative ways of recruiting, training, and utilizing mental health manpower, breaking away from the traditional situation which relied on two levels of workers--the fully developed professional and the aide. Approximately 150 two-year programs have been developed in the last decade to train middle-level workers, often termed Mental Health Associates (MHA). The monograph briefly reports on efforts to define the roles and functions of these new generalist workers and to prepare the job market for them. Aspects of the training of a generalist MHA are outlined and a survey of students in associate degree programs described at length. The survey report is presented in the form of a detailed attitude and attribute comparison between students in mental health programs and in other health-related programs. A second survey, of graduates, investigated their employment status, job functions and satisfaction, personal objectives, training strengths and weaknesses, and personal experiences. A further survey asked supervisors of MHA's about their performance. Problems relating to integrating MHA's into existing mental health programs are examined. The questionnaire used are appended. (SA)