NCJ Number
57374
Date Published
1979
Length
37 pages
Annotation
A MODEL IS USED TO EVALUATE THE COST EFFECTIVENESS OF A BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION PROGRAM FOR JUVENILES IN ENOUGH DETAIL TO DEMONSTRATE A BREAKDOWN OF COST PER BEHAVIOR TREATED AS WELL AS COST PER CHILD.
Abstract
THE TECHNIQUE WAS DEVELOPED TO EVALUATE LEARNING HOUSE, INC., OF PALO ALTO, CALIF., A FAMILY-STYLE RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WHO ARE DEMONSTRATING PREDELINQUENT BEHAVIORS. MOST COST ANALYSES OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS ARE COLLECTED ON A MACROLEVEL, OR A COST PER PERSON BASIS. HOWEVER, IF THE PURPOSE OF ANALYSIS IS TO IMPROVE A PROGRAM, DATA MUST BE COLLECTED AT A VERY SPECIFIC AND DETAILED MICROLEVEL. AT LEARNING HOUSE, COST AND EFFECTIVENESS WERE MEASURED SEPARATELY FOR EACH OF 20 BEHAVIORS FOR EACH CHILD IN THE PROGRAM. THE 20 LEARNING VARIABLES WERE BROKEN DOWN INTO 10 POSITIVE AND 10 NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE SAME BEHAVIOR (I.E., LYING OR CHEATING VERSUS HONESTY). EACH VARIABLE THEN WAS WEIGHTED TO REFLECT THE IMPORTANCE THE STAFF PLACED ON THE BEHAVIOR. PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES COSTS WERE BROKEN DOWN IN DETAIL AND THE COST PER BEHAVIOR LEARNED WAS CALCULATED. TABLES GIVE THIS COST DATA, AND A SET OF FIGURES DISPLAY MEAN COST EFFECTIVENESS INDEXES SEPARATELY FOR THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE VARIABLES FOR EACH CHILD IN THE FIRST GROUP. THESE FIGURES SHOW THAT THE PROGRAM WAS MOST COST EFFECTIVE IN DEALING WITH THE MOST DEVIANT BEHAVIORS. CHILDREN AT THE GREATEST EXTREMES SHOWED THE GREATEST IMPROVEMENTS. THE LIMITS OF THIS TYPE OF ANALYSIS (E.G., DATA COLLECTION AND COST ASSIGNMENT PROBLEMS) ARE EXPLORED, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR REFINEMENT ARE MADE. TABLES AND CHARTS ILLUSTRATE STUDY DATA. AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY IS APPENDED. (GLR)