MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS: THE NEED FOR CULTURALLY RELEVANT SERVICES

The fervor to increase institutional accountability has extended to the human services. Accountability in the human services broadly refers to the efficiency of a system so that resources and services are allocated in an equitable manner to address identified needs. "Ac tions which are taken and decisions which are made must be justifia ble in terms of the stated goals and objectives of the program" (Gelman, 1983:83). This definition is semantically different but not philosophically different from business which focuses on productivity as "achieving a desired benefit level with less costs" (Nagel, 1863:143). In both public organizations and the human services, it has become increasingly necessary to identify needs clearly, articulate goals and objectives, and provide services with desired outcomes which are cost-efficient. Critical to this process is the involvement and participation of the people who are recipients of services and consumers of products from public organizations or clients of the human services. While the demand for institutional accountability will continue to be an issue for public organizations, it has only recently gained attention as an issue for the human services. Mental health services for ethnic minorities of color is one area