In the psychiatric social services of the Public Health Departments in Berlin (Charlottenburg, Spandau, Kreuzberg), data concerning the clients, the work of the coworkers and the quality of client care were collected. More than 80% of the clients of the psychiatric social service suffer from severe psychiatric disturbances: alcoholism, psychiatric geriatric illness and schizophrenia. This diagnosis range differs significantly from that of the physicians in a private practice. Competition, therefore, does not exist between the psychiatric social services and the psychiatrists in a private practice. --The coworkers of the social istuation (housing, profession, salary and social contacts) to be poor for every second (to third) client and unfavorable for the course of the disease. Psychiatric social care in the areas of medicine, nursing and welfare as well as the coordination of the care was evaluated as unsatisfactory for every second (to third) client. --Dor social workers and physicians, the percentage of direct patient-oriented activity was about 45%, the percentage of indirect patient-oriented activity was about 55%, about 40% of the work-time was used for administration. An improvement in the organization could free more work-time for meaningful activity. --The psychiatric social services fulfill an important function for out-patient care, particularly for the severly mentally disturbed. The existing gaps in client care cannot begin to be closed by just expanding the psychiatric social services in terms of personnel in the Public Health Department. Extensive structural changes must also be made in regard to psychiatric care.