One of the reasons that I believe in mental health skill building services is because it is one of the few services in the community that facilitates independence, rather than dependence.  I am concerned about the decision to no longer allow five hour sessions for several reasons.  First, seeing clients more often throughout the week will facilitate a dependence on the service, which is the opposite of our objective and purpose.  Second, we can not always determine the amount of time it will take when we arrive to a client's home.  For example, a client suffering from heightened symptoms or experiencing suicidal/ homicidal thoughts or ideations may need to be hospitalized which is not a short process.  Second, some clients may require assistance in attending appointments when they are unable to understand medical directives, medication changes or experience extreme anxiety.  The time it takes to wait for the appointment, attend the appointment, obtain the medications, review the medication/ medical directives with the client the appointment could exceed the three hours allotted.  Third, some of our clients live in rural areas which requires more driving time just to get them to needed resources/ appointments and then the time it takes to utilize the resource/ attend the appointment.  In some cases it is not possible to meet the client's needs within a three hour time frame.  Fourth, new clients require more time initially to set them up with needed resources and treatment providers and come into service with significant needs that generally take longer than three hours to address.  Most clients can meet their needs within a three hour time frame, however there should be exceptions to the rule as some clients require more time to ensure that their needs are met.  I hope that you consider the clients and their needs when making your decision. Thank you for taking your time to read this.