The fore and after care services for psychiatric patients in the Netherlands are like spiders in the web of mental health care facilities. In this article the methods and organisation structures which are used in the necessary contacts between fore and after care service and their health and welfare facilities are described. These structures win be used as an instrument to compare the fore and after care services in the Netherlands with each other in order to get more insight in the task accomplishment, needs of the staff and co-operation of mental health services in the catchment area of the fore and after care service.