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There is no question that a discussion of the Panel's concepts of a "continuum of services" and of a "fixed point of referral" in each community might have led us into a most stimulating discussion, one that would have reflected more adequately the richness of the content of the Panel's Report and its many specific recommendations. Certainly these recommendations cover the very subject areas to which governmental agencies and interested citizen groups in the various states must address themselves.

Still, I realize that these specific recommendations are already well known to you and well publicized in the professional and popular journals. Insufficient attention, on the other hand, has been given, it seems to me, to the basic problems of planning and organization of services on the state level. Without clear recognition of the practical implications of this problem on the desirable development of community services for the mentally retarded, we shall not realize fully in our States the total benefit of the splendid work of the President's Panel on Mental Retardation.