Housing Counseling Process Evaluation and Design of ... - HUD User

approaches are identified as using a “mixed approach.” Roughly one fifth of agencies provide most
of their clients workshops only, another fifth provide most of their clients one-on-one counseling
only, and two fifths provide most of their clients both workshops and one-on-one counseling.
Another 21 percent of agencies use a mixed approach.
Exhibit 6-2.
Distribution of Counseling Agencies by Predominant Approach to Assisting
Pre-Purchase Clients
Average Agency Share of Clients that:
Agency's Approach to Pre-Purchase
Education/Counseling
Share of
Agencies
Only Attend
Workshops
Only
Receive
Counseling
Both Attend
Workshops
and Receive
Counseling
Predominantly Workshops Only 20% 77% 9% 13%
Predominantly Counseling Only 21% 9% 80% 12%
Predominantly Both Workshops and Counseling 38% 12% 9% 79%
Mixed Approach
21% 34% 30% 36%
All Agencies 100% 29% 28% 43%
Source: Abt Associates survey of HUD-approved counseling agencies.
Note: Based on survey responses of 904 agencies.
For the most part, the approach used by an agency to assist pre-purchase clients is not strongly
associated with the overall size of the agency in terms of clients served annually. The smallest
agencies (those assisting fewer that 150 clients a year) are less likely to provide both workshops and
counseling, but there is little variation in this share across the other size categories. Agencies that
specialize in assisting pre-purchase clients or homeowners generally are more likely to combine
workshops and individual counseling. Organizations whose primary missions are legal assistance or
consumer credit counseling are also much more likely to predominantly offer individual counseling.
Interestingly, the average hours of services provided to each client does not vary to a great degree
with the type of approach used by an agency. Exhibit 6-3 presents the average hours of services,
including both time in workshops and individual counseling, received by pre-purchase clients based
on the predominant approach used by the agency. The highest average hours of services are provided
by agencies using a “mixed approach” where neither workshops alone, counseling alone, or a
combination of the two predominates. In these agencies clients average 9.2 hours of services. The
next highest average (8.9 hours) is among agencies where most clients both attend workshops and
receive individual counseling, followed by agencies where most clients attend workshops only (8.4
hours). Agencies where most clients only receive individual counseling have the lowest average
hours of services at 7.2 hours per client.
Chapter 6. Characteristics of Education and Counseling Services 81