Benefit-cost analysis was conducted to estimate the increase in earnings, increased tax revenues, value of less crime, and reductions in welfare costs attributable to nationwide implementation of rapid assessment, a promising intervention for raising student achievement in math and reading. Results suggest that social benefits would exceed total…

Educational needs assessments (hereafter NAs) are inattentive to cost considerations and are frequently dominated by elite stakeholder groups. In this article I make a case for adopting a cost-utility approach, illustrating the argument with data generated in a NA of central library services in a Canadian school district. Using survey data from…

This book is written for program administrators who want to become familiar with program evaluation methods. Outcome-based evaluation is defined as a form of program evaluation that uses objective person-referenced outcomes (measuring the functional level and social roles of program clients) to analyze effectiveness, impact, or costs and benefits.…

Reviews the philosophical and theoretical foundations of cost-effectiveness analysis and describes some of the ethical assumptions and implications that are embedded in, and result from, the use of this economic analysis technique. Considers how the social and political contexts of health-related decisions affects the usefulness of the results…

An overview of the theoretical concepts of capitation, a method of paying a provider a fixed price per person served, is presented in conjunction with practical lessons from the literature documenting capitation efforts in public mental health. An analytic framework identifies five major planning concerns in capitation. (SLD)

Poses additional complexities for the evaluation of government programs by the formation of partnerships with the private sector. Challenges include differing partner objectives, information deficiencies, variances in partner contributions and outcome effects, and difficulties in estimating benefits and costs. Discusses strategies to aid…

In many evaluations, presenting probability distributions of cost-effectiveness results offers a convenient way to show the likelihood of various conclusions given the uncertainties in the inputs. The techniques presented in this paper should be useful for many programs characterized by controversy over perspectives, assumptions, and dollar…

The Parent and Youth Vanderbilt Functioning Indexes are functioning problem indexes for children and adolescents that require neither clinicians nor trained raters. Their low cost of administration permits adequate sample sizes in outcome evaluations of large numbers of students. The development of these instruments is described. (SLD)

Studied the effects of placement of a vocational rehabilitation counselor (VRC) in methadone maintenance clinics for 333 and 358 patients. Results suggest that placement of a VRC in clinic settings is a cost effective change to vocational and educational services. (SLD)

A framework is described for economic evaluation of substance abuse interventions, describing addiction and treatment dynamics and highlighting therapeutic and economic endpoints. Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses are discussed. In conjunction with a decision-tree model, economic evaluation is presented as a tool for informed resource…

It is difficult to apply benefit cost analysis to human service programs. This paper explains "threshold benefit analysis," the derivation of the minimum dollar value which the benefits must attain in order for their value to equal the intervention costs. The method is applied to a mobility training program. (BS)

National survey data on the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefits of 11 different juvenile offender treatment program types are reviewed. Best-worst-midpoint, threshold, and convergency analyses are applied to these studies. Meaningful ways of dealing with missing information when evaluating alternative juvenile justice policies and programs are…

This study estimates the economic costs of an enhanced Employee Assistance Program (EAP) intervention at a large midwestern EAP that serves 90 worksites. Results specify developmental and implementation costs and provide benchmark cost estimated for other EAPs that may be considering enhanced services. (SLD)

The client-oriented cost outcome system provides feedback of the data generated by or for consumers for a program's service planning, delivery, quality control, and evaluation methods. The system's conceptual framework, necessary components, and applications for program evaluation are described. Available from: Pergamon Press, Maxwell House,…

The focus in this book is on steering a course between rigorous definitions and theory and applied attempts to measure costs and benefits in the real world. As an introduction to the concepts underlying cost-benefit analysis, this volume is well-written and comprehensive for a book of its length. (SLD)