143 children under 16 entered the three state mental hospitals (a total of 154 admissions) in spite of the fa ct that these hospitals do not have specially designated children's services.What this means is a matter of concern, both fr om the humanitarian point of view and fr om the point of view of the administrator responsible fo r planning mental health programs. Should these children have been sent to state hospitals even in the absence of any adequate program fo r them ? A fa irly vocal segment of the public says, by no means. On the other hand a different segment (or even, occasionally, members of the same segment at a different time) insists that the hospitals admit certain children who can no longer be tolerated in the community. These conflicting views find expression in the actions as well as in the public statements of many who have responsi bilities fo r children. Yet, too little is actually known on which sound planning fo r children's services can be based.The study reported here is an attempt to fi nd out and interpret some of the facts about children in public mental hospitals: Who are they ? Why are they there ? What happens to them ? Where should they really be?The total child population studied (143 children) ranged in age from 6 through 15. Twa-thirds were 14 or 15. The 10 per cent who were between 6 and 10 were mental defectives, schizophrenics or children with chronic brain syndromes. Personality disorders started to appear fr om age 10 onwards with a marked upswing of admissions of adolescents with schizophrenia, neuroses, and other personality disorders. The ratio of boys to girls was 8 to 7.Length of stay ranged from less than a week to more than two years. Twenty per cent stayed less than one month; 20 per cent, one to three months; 20 per cent, fo ur to six months; 15 per cent, six months to a year; and 25 per cent, more than that. The rate of admissions increased over the six years-twice as many children were admitted in 1955 as in 1950.Divided into diagnostic categories, the group consists of: personality and psychoneurotic disorders, 45 per cent; schizophrenic disorders, 30 per cent; mental defectives including chronic brain syndrome with mental deficiency, 17 per cent; chronic brain syndrome without mental deficiency, 6 per cent; and acute brain syndrome, less than 2 per cent.