Economic Evaluation of the Juvenile Drug Court/Reclaiming Futures (JDC/RF) Model

• NCJ Number: 252892
• Journal: Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research Volume: 45 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2018 Pages: 321-339
• Author(s): Kathryn McCollister; Pamela Baumer; Monica Davis; Alison Greene; Sally Stevens; Michael Dennis
• Date Published: July 2018
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-DC-BX-0081
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

As part of the National Cross-Site Evaluation of juvenile drug court (JDC) and Reclaiming Futures (RF), an economic analysis of five JDC/RF programs was conducted from a multisystem and multiagency perspective, highlighting the direct and indirect costs of JDC/RF and the savings generated from reduced health problems, illegal activity, and missed school days.

Abstract

Juvenile drug court (JDC) programs are an increasingly popular option for rehabilitating juvenile offenders with substance problems, but research has found inconsistent evidence regarding their effectiveness and economic impact. Although assessing client outcomes, such as reduced substance use and delinquency, is necessary to gauge program effectiveness, a more comprehensive understanding of program success and sustainability can be attained by examining program costs and economic benefits. The current study's results include the average (per participant) cost of JDC/RF, the total economic benefits per JDC/RF participant, and the net savings of JDC/RF relative to standard JDC.