Results of a study evaluating the success of transfers of adult retardates from state institutions to public and private nursing homes indicate that most of the retardates adjusted well to the change, responded to program activities available in the nursing homes and nearby communities, and were visited more often by friends and relatives. Operators of the nursing homes, their staffs, the retardates, their families, and the other residents and their families accepted the placement program. By supporting social functioning at a lesser level of intervention than state institutions, nursing homes allow for greater exercise of even limited independence.