Impact of Separation on Community Social Service Utilization

Abstract

This experiment indicates that AFDC recipients who received public welfare social services under the format of separation of services from financial aid are more likely than recipients in the combined condition to use social services from other agencies in the community. A manipulation designed to impact service utilization by providing greater information about these services had no effect. An earlier report indicated a decline in recipients' use of financial services from the AFDC program and lower client and worker satisfaction under the separated condition. While these findings represent one study in a single agency, they suggest possible service delivery problems arising from the separation of services and income maintenance.