In general States with a low average number of cases per visitor have relatively high average monthly assistance payments per recipient. This occurs be cause States with relatively low caseloads and relatively high average assistance payments generally are those that rank relatively high in per capita income. These are the States that are able to pay the additional costs that are required (1) to hire enough caseworkers to keep average caseloads down and (2) to maintain assistance standards that are more nearly adequate than those in low income States.

To obtain an understanding of the effect of reduced caseloads per visitor on assistance costs, comparisons should be made between States or communities with similar social and economic conditions. There are many factors which influence the size of the public assistance programs that make it difficult to measure the effect of lower caseloads in one State as compared with another-for example, population composition, extent of industrialization, receipt of benefits under OASDI, and, above all, fiscal ability and willingness to meet the costs of public assistance. For this reason, the studies that have been made attempt to give us a "before and after" picture in the same community. Or, what is frequently done in these experiments is to assign lower caseloads to one group of caseworkers and to compare their performance with other workers who continue to carry higher caseloads. This is the procedure followed in a number of the experiments described below.

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE-EXAMPLES OF SITUATIONS IN WHICH THE USE OF SKILLED PUBLIC WELFARE STAFF HAS RESULTED IN PROGRAM SAVINGS AND IN IMPROVED SERVICES

I. Lake County, Ind., project

Caseloads were limited to 40 families for selected caseworkers to serve families who were chronically dependent with signs of serious deterioration. Through intensive casework counseling with 125 families, the agency reported savings of $16,593 in 1958. Intensive casework services in 1959 resulted in an estimated savings of $22,556.

II. Washington, D.C. project

In this project 3 skilled social workers were responsible for all of the counseling provided 240 families with 900 children. The results showed that "the status" of the family was improved for 141 of the 240 families, as evidenced by increased financial support from 34 absent fathers, improved marital relationships in 32 families, improved health in 51 families, full-time employment in 18 cases, parttime employment in 9 cases, marked progress toward employment in 16 families. better housing for 23 families, and alleviation of school difficulties experienced by 9 children.

III. Allegheny County, Pa., project

Through the use of professionally trained social workers and the assignment of small caseloads (35 in the project), 98 cases out of the project's 349 cases were closed because of employment. Estimated savings to the agency were impressive. Assistance had been given in each of these cases for more than 5 years. The handicaps in these families included physical, social, and mental disabilities, no skill or experience. Public assistance expenditures for the 11-month period of the project were reduced by $27,950-this does not include accumulated savings. IV. Marin County, Calif., project

The family care unit of this public assistance agency was established to provide intensive casework in helping dependent disorganized and disturbed families. During a demonstration period, an experimental caseload was established in this unit. Twenty-four chronic cases were assigned to a worker with graduate social work training. After 1 year's work improvement was noted in all but two cases and expenditures for the entire group began decreasing. Most of these cases involved immaturity, marital conflict, mental deficiency, mental illness, and alcoholism. They included 104 children ranging from 2 to 9 in a family and 24 of these children were known to have personality disturbances. So convincing was the improvement that "the agency concluded that intensive effort in all such cases was indicated and that casework help given in the early stages of agency contact contributed to the prevention of personal and family breakdown and economic dependence."

V. Two projects-Washtenaw County, Mich.

These projects focused on the use of trained staff working with multiproblem families receiving general assistance. In the most recent study (1960), 14 cases involving 84 individuals were selected for intensive study. The work was evaluated after the families had been in the project from 3 to 10 months, and even within this brief period, considerable gains had been made. Families were evaluated according to financial status, family relationships, and individual adjustment, and finally, their improved capacity to use community resources wisely and constructively. Three families showed gains in all three areas, five families in two areas, and three families improved in one area. The authors state that the total monthly cost (to the public assistance agency) for these 14 families was $2,300. “During the first 6 months the project operated, 6 families became partially or totally self-supporting which produced an estimated savings per month of between $700 and $750 ***. On an annual basis, an annual savings of $8,400 to $9,000" was thus affected. This result was achieved despite the fact that these 14 families had received relief for an average of 21 months, and that the project workers were the "usual employees" of the general assistance agency. Highly skilled supervision, active inservice training program, and reduced caseloads made the difference.

VI. Florida project

At

Skilled social workers worked with 505 families over a 14-month period. the conclusion of this period, about one-half of the families were no longer on public assistance. By comparison, during the same period, only about one-third of the cases carried by the regular staff were removed from the assistance rolls. Of the new applications handled by the experimental group, about 42 percent were accepted for financial assistance, while of the applications handled by the regular, less-trained staff, about 56 percent were accepted.

VII. Texas project

During 1959 and 1960, "mature, experienced social workers" were selected to work with ADC cases and by the end of the year they were credited with having achieved a remarkable drop in the caseload. In September 1959, payments were made to 23,147 families representing 73,381 children under the program. By August 1960, the number of recipients dropped to 19,662 families, a decrease of 4,132 families, or 17 percent. A substantial part of this reduction is attributable to the work of the highly skilled workers on the project.

VIII. Westchester County, N.Y., project

In this project, highly skilled social workers, excellent supervision, and reduced caseloads proved to be a wise investment. The project covered 152 families who were plagued with many problems and had been receiving relief for an average of 25.1 months. After an average of 6.7 months of counseling, 49 of the families were able to function independently.

IX. Niagara County, N.Y., project

Highly skilled social workers were assigned 41 families who had continuously or intermittently been on public assistance for 5 or more years. Despite high unemployment rates in Niagara County at the time, 17 families became selfsupporting within 8 months while over one-half of the families involved took concrete steps in the direction of improving their employment potential. It was reported that "A long-range goal of self-support for many of these families has a reasonable chance to be reached."

TRAINING OF PUBLIC WELFARE PERSONNEL

Senator HILL. It has been suggested to me that the record should show the participation by the several States over the past several years in the training of public welfare personnel using administrative funds, on a 50-50 matching basis. Would you furnish the committee a table on this?

(The table referred to follows:)

SALARIES AND EXPENSES, BUREAU OF FAMILY SERVICES

APPROPRIATION ESTIMATE

"For expenses necessary for the Bureau of [Public Assistance] Family Services [$3,442,000] $4,096,000.

EXPLANATION OF LANGUAGE CHANGE

The language change reflects the action taken by the Secretary of Health Education, and Welfare to change the name of the Bureau of Public Assistance to the Bureau of Family Services, effective January 1, 1962, in order to emphasize increased Bureau activities in development of services to families.

1 Paid from Office of Emergency Planning and Department of Defense in 1962.