Child Welfare Information Gateway
Skip to main content
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  • Administration for Children & Families
  • Children's Bureau
Child Welfare Information Gateway
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   

Home Topics Publications Library State Resources More Tools & Resources News & Events
REPORT ABUSE OR
NEGLECT
FIND HELP WITH A
PERSONAL SITUATION   
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Free Subscriptions
  • Resources in Spanish
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Chat
  • Resources in Spanish
  • Shopping Cart
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Family-Centered Practice
      • Philosophy and Key Elements of Family-Centered Practice
      • Family-Centered Practice Across the Service Continuum
      • Engaging Families
      • Family-Centered Casework Practice
      • Family Group Decision-Making
      • Engaging Communities to Support Families
      • Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Definitions of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Identification of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Risk Factors That Contribute to Child Abuse and Neglect
      • People Who Engage in Child Abuse or Neglect
      • Impact of Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Child Abuse & Neglect Fatalities
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
      • Overview: Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Promoting Child & Family Well-Being
      • Public Awareness & Creating Supportive Communities
      • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Programs
      • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
      • Evidence-Based Practice for Child Abuse Prevention
      • Evaluating Prevention Programs
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Introduction to Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
      • Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Assessment in Child Protection
      • Differential Response in Child Protective Services
      • Child Protection Casework Practice
      • Responding to Child Maltreatment Near Fatalities and Fatalities
      • Trauma-Informed Practice in Child Welfare
      • Collaborative Responses to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
      • Supporting Families With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
      • Introduction to Family Support and Preservation
      • In-Home Services Involved With Child Protection
      • Family Support Services
      • Family Preservation Services
      • Resources for Managers of Family Support and Preservation Services
    • Out-of-Home Care
      • National Foster Care Month
      • Overview: Out-of-Home Care
      • Foster Care
      • Group and Residential Care
      • Kinship Care
      • Casework Practice in Out-of-Home Care
      • Transition to Adulthood and Independent Living
      • Placement Decisions
      • Resources for Foster Families
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Overview: Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
      • Reunifying Families
      • Recruiting and Retaining Resource Families
      • Permanency With Relatives and Kin
      • Guardianship
      • Permanency for Specific Youth Populations
      • Legal and Court Issues in Permanency
      • Interjurisdictional Placements
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families in Permanency Planning
      • Working With Children, Youth, and Families After Permanency
      • Resources for Administrators and Managers About Permanency
      • Resources for Families About Permanency
    • Adoption
      • National Adoption Month
      • All-In Foster Adoption Challenge
      • Children's Bureau Adoption Call to Action
      • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
      • Introduction to Adoption
      • Ethical Issues in Adoption
      • For Adopted People
      • For Adoption Program Managers & Administrators
      • For Expectant Parents Considering Adoption and Birth Parents
      • How to Adopt
      • Laws Related to Adoption
      • Parenting After Adoption
      • Preplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Postplacement Adoption Casework Practice
      • Search & Reunion in Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
      • Administering & Managing Child Welfare Agencies & Programs
      • Child Welfare Practice Improvement
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Ethical Practice & Client Rights
      • Evaluating Program and Practice Effectiveness
      • Funding
      • Information Systems & Data
      • Supervising Child Welfare Services
      • System Reform
      • Training
      • Workforce
    • Systemwide
      • Assessment
      • Behavioral Health & Wellness
      • Courts
      • Cultural Responsiveness
      • Diverse Populations and Communities
      • Domestic Violence
      • Human Trafficking
      • Laws & Policies
      • Service Array
      • Statistics
      • Well-Being
      • Youth
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Topic
    • Browse by Title
    • índice de Títulos en Español (Spanish Title Index)
  • Library
    • Library Services
    • Library Search Help
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals Search
    • State-Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption and Guardianship Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Resources From the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Discretionary Grants
      • The Story of the Children's Bureau
      • Children's Bureau Video Series
    • Child Welfare Information Gateway Podcast Series
      • Episode 84: What Does an Effective Support System Look Like?
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
  • News & Events
    • Free Subscriptions
    • Adoption Triad
    • Children's Bureau Express (CBX)
    • The Grantee Connection
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • Home
  • Topics
  • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
  • Developing & Sustaining Prevention Programs
  • Making an Economic Case
  • Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Cost-effectiveness analysis attempts to determine which practices and policies protect the greatest number of children for the lowest price. In this type of analysis, key measures of program effectiveness (outcomes) are identified, and different strategies to affect those outcomes are compared. Cost-effectiveness analysis might be used by an organization with a limited budget to determine which strategy prevents more cases of child neglect; or, if two strategies achieve similar benefits, it might be used to determine which of these is least expensive to implement.

As with cost-benefit analysis, it is important first to establish a causal relationship between the program and the outcomes claimed, through a valid outcome evaluation.

Outcome measures for child abuse prevention programs may include:

  • Reduced incidence of family abuse
  • Increased family cohesiveness
  • Reduced delinquency
  • Reduced child mortality

Programs also need accurate information about the cost of administering the program. Programs can then be compared by dividing program costs by a particular outcome (for example, cost per case of child abuse prevented).

In general, one strategy is considered more cost-effective than another if it is:

  • Less costly and at least as effective
  • More effective and more costly, but the additional benefit is considered worth the extra cost, or
  • Less effective and less costly, when the added benefit is not considered worth the extra cost

Often programs are interested in more than one outcome. In this case, programs can evaluate multiple outcomes separately (e.g., cost per case of child abuse prevented and cost per case of child death prevented) or combine the outcomes into one measure, in a cost-utility analysis. Cost-utility analysis is a variant of cost-effectiveness analysis, where quality of life and life expectancy are combined into a summary measure.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
U.S. Department of Veterans AffairsExplains what cost-effectiveness analysis is and how it can be used within the context of health care to decide which interventions and services should be used. It highlights recommendations made by a task force of theU.S. Public Health Service, comparisons of interventions, and examples.

Cost-Effectiveness of Family Group Conferencing in Child Welfare: A Controlled Study
Dijkstra, Creemers, van Steensel, Dekovi?, Stams, & Asscher (2018)
BMC Public Health, 18
Examines the short- and long-term cost-effectiveness of family group conferencing (FCG) by comparing outcomes between families participating in FGC and those who did not. The study looked at the costs associated with families’ child welfare involvement.

Home Visiting: The Potential for Cost Savings From Home Visiting Due to Reductions in Child Maltreatment (PDF - 577 KB)
Mathematica Policy Research (2014)
Presents the estimated costs of implementing four program models: Healthy Families America, Nurse Family Partnership, Parents as Teachers, and SafeCare, and describes the additional information needed to assess whether they are cost effective with respect to reductions in child maltreatment and other outcomes.

Nurse-Family Partnership Home Visitation: Costs, Outcomes, and Return on Investment: Executive Summary (PDF - 306 KB)
Miller (2013)
Pew Center on the States & H.B.S.A. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
Analyzes costs, life status outcomes, functional outcomes, and the return on investment rate in Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) services. Those estimates are also used to create an online calculator and a State-specific financial planning tool to guide NFP funding decisions.

The Power of Prevention for Mothers and Children: The Cost Effectiveness of Maternal and Child Health Interventions
Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (2018)
Presents evidence of the cost-effectiveness of maternal and child health (MCH) programs, highlights the roles of State Title V MCH programs, and provides examples of which programs were cost-effective.

Spotlight On

Guide to Analyzing the Cost-Effectiveness of Community Public Health Prevention Approaches

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (HHS) (2006)

Children's Bureau - An office of the Administration for Children and Families

Child Welfare Information Gateway is a service of the

  • Children’s Bureau
  • Administration for Children and Families
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
↑ Back to top
  • HOME
  • TOPICS
    • Family-Centered Practice
    • Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
    • Supporting & Preserving Families
    • Out-of-Home Care
    • Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
    • Adoption
    • Management & Supervision
    • Systemwide
  • National Initiatives
    • National Adoption Month
    • National Child Abuse Prevention Month
    • National Foster Care Month
  • Publications
    • Publications Series
    • Browse by Title
    • Browse by Topic
    • Índice de Títulos en Español
  • Library
    • Search the Library
  • State Resources
    • State Statutes
    • National Foster Care & Adoption Directory
    • State Guides & Manuals
    • State Related Organizations Lists
    • Adoption Assistance by State
  • More Tools & Resources
    • Related Organizations
    • Learning Center
    • Children's Bureau Resources
    • Information Gateway Podcast
    • Multimedia
  • NEWS AND EVENTS
    • New on Information Gateway
    • New From the Children's Bureau
    • Event Calendar
  • ABOUT US
    • How to Report Child Abuse or Neglect
    • Find Help With a Personal Situation
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Glossary
    • Search A to Z
  • Contact Us
    • 1-800-394-3366
    • info@childwelfare.gov
    • Subscribe to Free Updates
    • Chat With Us
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on YouTube
  • POLICIES & HELPFUL LINKS
    • Disclaimer and Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Accessibility
    • FOIA requests
    • No FEAR Act data
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Performance reports
    • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy
    • USA.gov
    • Download Acrobat Reader
    • Login
  • ↑ Back to top