2015 · Study · English
Benefit-cost analysis of a randomized evaluation of Communities That Care: Monetizing intervention effects on the initiation of delinquency and substance use through grade 12
Kuklinski, M. R., Fagan, A. A., Hawkins, J. D., Briney, J. S., & Catalano, R. F.
Kuklinski, M. R., Fagan, A. A., Hawkins, J. D., Briney, J. S., & Catalano, R. F. (2015). Benefit-cost analysis of a randomized evaluation of Communities That Care: Monetizing intervention effects on the initiation of delinquency and substance use through grade 12. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11(2), 165–192. doi.org/10.1007/s11292-014-9226-3
Summary
Benefit–cost analysis of Communities That Care based on the 4,407-strong longitudinal cohort of the Community Youth Development Study, the randomised trial in 24 towns in seven US states. Significant intervention effects on sustained abstinence from delinquency, alcohol use and tobacco use through grade 12 were monetised and set against the investment in CTC. In discounted 2011 dollars, CTC produced an estimated USD 4,477 in benefits per young person against implementation costs of USD 556 per young person over five years, giving a net present benefit of USD 3,920 and a benefit–cost ratio of USD 8.22 per dollar invested, with an internal rate of return of 21%; the investment was expected to be recouped within nine years. Sensitivity analyses that halved the effects still yielded positive results. The authors conclude that CTC is a cost-beneficial community-based approach to preventing the onset of delinquency, alcohol and tobacco use, the figure most often quoted when CTC is proposed to European funders.