NCJ Number
232454
Date Published
2010
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report presents the results of a cost-benefit analysis of the Reclaiming Futures Initiative (RFI), which was launched by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in an effort to achieve systems change that will improve substance abuse interventions for youth involved in the juvenile justice system.
Abstract
The analysis found that the more youth who were served by the investment in the RFI, the greater the benefit of the initiative. The analysis estimated that on average, approximately 200 juveniles per year per site must be served in order to offset operating costs. The RFI for all sites was estimated to be required to reach at least 8,000 juveniles in order to be cost-effective. The national RFI programs office estimates that approximately 15,000 youth were served by the demonstration sites. This supports the conclusion of the analysis that RFI was cost-effective. Cost data were obtained on the 10 RFI communities' planning and operational activities between March 2002 and October 2007. In order to estimate the benefits of RFI, the evaluation forecasted improvement in individual, client-level behavior that prior research has shown to be associated with the improvement observed in the stakeholder survey. If a relatively small change in youth delinquency would be needed to offset the costs of the demonstration, then it would be reasonable to presume that RFI was cost-effective. If, on the other hand, a relatively large change in juvenile offending was required to generate off-setting benefits, then it would be reasonable to presume that the program was not cost-effective. 12 tables, 8 figures, and 13 references