Objective: To obtain initial results with regard to the reliability and validity of the Client Satisfaction Inventory (CSI), a 25-item scale for measuring general satisfaction with services among clients of human service agencies. Method: The CSI was administered to 329 clients of 11 agencies in six states. Also administered were three other standardized measures and a brief descriptive questionnaire, results from which were used to assess the discriminant validity of the CSI. Results: Findings indicated that both the full version of the CSI and a 9-item short-form version, the CSI-SF, have good to excellent internal consistency. Item analyses also provided some affirmative evidence with regard to the content validity of both versions, and the presence of hypothesized relationships between client satisfaction scores and those of the other instruments offered indications of good discriminant validity for each version. Conclusion: Accountability demands, including pressures associated with managed care, have created a need in many agencies for brief, accurate, and norm-referenced measures of client satisfaction. Although further research is needed, initial results suggest that the CSI and CSI-SF may be useful tools for meeting this need. Client satisfaction, as an approach to assessing the quality of services, has a quick and readily apparent appeal. It is easily understood by both clients and providers, can be measured via client self-report (rather than, for example, the more difficult process of behavioral observation), and is a central feature of most definitions of service effectiveness. Indeed, the social validity of human services depends in large measure on client satisfaction. Oddly, however, it has attracted only sporadic attention in literature on evaluating 644

Findings are reported from an initial evaluation of a new multidimensional assessment tool, the Multi-Problem Screening Inventory (MPSI). The inventory gathers information on 27 different areas of personal and social functioning and is designed for use by human service practitioners in a variety of settings. Basic guidelines for using the instrument are detailed, with emphasis given to the preparation and interpretation of graphic profiles for rapid but comprehensive client assessments. Reliabilities and validities obtained for each of the subscales are then reviewed, along with suggestions for further development and use of the MPSI in clinical trials and research applications.

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Results from a survey of nonprofit human service agencies in Arizona are presented. Most agencies reported steady or declining revenues, increased competition with other agencies, and rising demand for services from clients who cannot pay. The strategies used to adapt to these changes ranged from small‐scale productivity enhancements to responses involving a complete restructuring of the agency as well as cutbacks in client services. The discussion focuses on the implications of the results for the continued viability of these agencies and their ability to maintain their commitments to poor clients.

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