The Office of United States Senator Daniel Inouye requested information on state minimum licensing and certification requirements for physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses who work directly with patients in state mental hospitals. To obtain this information, the General Accounting Office called the offices of the directors/commissioners of the 50 state mental health programs to inquire about state licensing and certification of these professionals. Eleven states did not provide information (Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wisconsin). The results revealed that the minimum licensing and certification requirements provided for physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and nurses varied among the 39 responding states. The responses showed that: (1) all of the 39 states required physicians and nurses to be licensed; (2) 27 of the 39 states required that psychologists be licensed or certified; (3) 15 of the 39 states required that psychiatrists be licensed and board-eligible or board-certified; and (4) 13 of the 39 states required that social workers be licensed, certified, or registered. Thirty-two of the 37 states that responded to an additional question said that physicians working in state mental hospitals but who are not board-eligible or board-certified as psychiatrists are permitted to provide psychiatric services. (NB)