Focusing on a 2-county rural area of Mississippi, 230 female Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients were divided into 4 groups to ascertain the differential effects that additions of higher levels of financial assistance and/or services over a period of a year (1967-68) would have on life styles and potentials for upward mobility. Reflecting distinctive concepts of public assistance, the four groups included: (1) a control group; (2) Title V: Training and Income; (3) 1115: Special Services; and (4) 1115: Income Only. Data on the program variables were collected via official records and case worker/researcher consultations and a follow-up interview. Changes in financial status, life style, and personal orientations were examined. Results indicated: the greatest number of significantly different changes occurred among recipients of both training and income (Group II); followed by those receiving income only; changes among income only recipients were more clearly seen in immediate changes in family financial status than in style of life or personal orientation; there was some evidence that work experience and training in Group II was beginning by the time of the second interview to effect the degree of client rationality regarding work; substantial change in client welfare required substantial input (level of input was the most predictive factor in the study). (JC)