Abstract
This study examines how families raising children with severe developmental disabilities use a cash subsidy. Eighty-one families were interviewed prior to receiving the $225 monthly subsidy and again 1 year later. Families reported no change in the number of services they used, nor did they significantly increase the amount spent on services. Although families did not spend significantly more on purchases in the month prior to each interview, there was a significant increase in the amount spent on major purchases made in the year after receipt of the subsidy. The pattern and amount of expenditures are described. Lower income families reported the subsidy as significantly more helpful than higher income families. The implications of the findings for social policy are discussed and recommendations are made.
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This article is based on research supported by grants from the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council, the University of Michigan Rackham Faculty Grant Program, and Wayne State University. The views expressed herein are sllely those of the authors and do not represent the opinions or policies of any agency of the State of Michigan. This research was conducted while Maureen Marcenko was an assistant professor in the School of Social Work and the acting director of the Developmental Disabilities Institute at Wayne State University; Judith C. Meyers was an associate director of the Bush Program in Child Development and Social Policy at the University of Michigan.
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Marcenko, M.O., Meyers, J.C. How families of children with severe disabilities choose to allocate a cash subsidy. The Journal of Mental Health Administration 21, 253–261 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02521332
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02521332