Experiences of Workers Hired Under Cash and Counseling: Findings from Arkansas, Florida, and New Jersey

Assessing the well-being of workers hired under consumer direction and addressing their concerns is critical, because the consumer-directed model is sustainable only if workers are satisfied with it. While caer recipients who manage their own care appear to be much more satisfied than consumers who receive agency care, the primary reason given for dropping out of a consumer-directed option is difficulty finding or keeping a worker. Moreover, turning to consumer direction and tapping consumers' family members and friends as additional sources of labor could help solve the serious worker shortage. In this report, the authors use results from all three states participating in the Cash and Counseling demonstration — Arkansas, Florida and New Jersey — to assess the experiences of workers hired under consumer direction. [62 PDF pages]