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Effective intervention in cases of sexual abuse of adolescents requires both knowledge of medical and other indicators and interviewing skills to facilitate disclosure. Public health settings are one place where the knowledge and skills of the health and social work professions can be effectively used to identify and protect adolescent victims. Interdisciplinary training was found to enhance requisite skills in this area. The experimental evaluation of a brief, state-wide, in-service training program found significant improvement in posttest knowledge of relevant indicators and interviewing skills and an increase in the number of cases identified and reported.

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Race as a factor in premature termination from treatment was investigated at a community mental health center staffed largely by Black counselors and serving a largely Black clientele. Uncontrolled analysis revealed that race was unrelated to whether clients completed treatment, as opposed to with drawing or dropping out, but was indeed related to the intensity of services (Blacks received more services). Introducing control for social and clinical background factors by way of multivariate analysis eliminated this preliminary difference in service intensity. Instead of race, service consumption and status at termination were related to adjustment and diagnosis. There was no evidence of differential treatment toward other‐than‐Black clients at a Black community mental health center when comparisons were conducted with the greatest possible methodological rigor.