ABSTRACT
The choice of one agency by another for any kind of interaction almost automatically reflects a system of understanding among the various agencies regarding one another's core services, eligibility rules, and other boundary conditions. Information about arrangements, that is, choices by agencies for collateral services, was available for nine of the agency services, and it was found that 251 arrangements were made in connection with the 952 applications for these services. Agencies exchanged information about 150 of the 952 applicants without at the same time making arrangements or referrais. Whereas information exchanges, like arrangements, are usually made in the clients' interests, eligibility checking is meant to protect the agency from illegal use. The chapter summarizes the number of choices estimated to have been made in every month by the nine study agencies for the making of arrangements, the exchanging of information, the checking of eligibility, and the referral or steering of clients.
