Cash and Counseling: Consumer's Early Experiences in Arkansas

This paper describes the experiences of 194 early clients in the Arkansas Cash and Counseling Demonstration, IndependentChoices. The description is based on the clients' responses to a telephone survey conducted about nine months after they applied to enter the program and were randomly assigned to the demonstration's treatment group to receive a monthly cash allowance. After briefly describing the Arkansas project, data and methods used, and client characteristics, this paper discusses client outcomes in four areas: (1) program participation; (2) uses of services, goods, and cash; (3) hiring of caregivers and revision of cash expenditure plans; and (4) satisfaction. [31 PDF pages]