Temp-to-hire offer, worth it? - any advice?

A permanent role may come up, but the contract starts now. Thank you in advance. I would gain recent experience. How did you handle benefits?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 13 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

I took a contract and it converted after four months. The time also kept my skills current.