Abstract
A growing number of concerned citizens in the United States are becoming aware of some of the negative characteristics associated with large public institutions for disabled children and adults. As an alternative to institutional placement, this article discusses deinstitutionalization as a process for normalizing the environments of disabled persons through their removal from public institutions and the provision of comprehensive community services at the local level. The ten major objectives of deinstitutionalization are discussed in detail, and several examples of decentralized programs are presented.

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