This critical interdisciplinary study charts the modern history of mental health services, reflects upon the evolution of care in communities, and considers the most effective policies and practices for the future. Starting with the development of community care in the 1960s, Cummins explores the political, economic, and bureaucratic factors behind the changes and crises in mental health social care, returning to those roots to identify progressive principles that can pave a sustainable pathway forward. This is a groundbreaking contribution to debates about the role, values, and future of community care, and is vital reading for students, teachers, and researchers in the field of social work and mental health.This rigorous study of contemporary mental health services and community care is important reading for students, teachers and researchers in the field of social work and mental health. Cummins analyses the political, economic and bureaucratic factors behind changes and crises in mental health services and returns to the progressive principles of the early development of community care to identify the most effective and sustainable pathways forward.