Psychiatric services : a journal of the American Psychiatric Association
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Funding for mental health services has declined in recent years, posing the difficult challenge of setting program and individual client service priorities with reduced resources. The author reviews seven principles for resource allocation and their potential impact on people with severe and persistent mental illness. ⋯ Because none of these principles take precedence over the others, their joint application does not necessarily yield consistent program priorities. However, they provide a frame of reference for approaching the task of priority setting and for understanding why priorities may vary from different perspectives.