TECBD, 2003 Financial and Human Costs of Treatment or Failure to Provide Treatment Mary Quinn Jeffrey Poirier American Institutes for Research National Center on Education, Disability, and Juvenile Justice (EDJJ)

TECBD, 2003 Why Prevention? An 18 year old is five times more likely to be arrested for a property crime than a 35 year old In 1997, year olds comprised 7% of the overall population but 1 out 5 arrests for violent offenses and 1 out of 3 property crime arrests Overall, teenagers are responsible for 20-30% of all crime Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1999

TECBD, 2003 Theories School Failure Susceptibility Differential Treatment Meta Cognitive Murray, 1977; Post, 1981

TECBD, 2003 What are we preventing? Left to progress without appropriate treatment, these children with behavior disorders are at heightened risk for: Serious mental health problems; Substance abuse; Educational failure, including truancy and delinquency; and Encounters with the juvenile justice system.

TECBD, 2003 Serious Mental Health Problems/ Substance Abuse Research supports that children with mental health problems are at risk for Unemployment or underemployment In unhealthy relationships, including broken marriages Other mental problems (e.g., schizophrenia, hyperactivity, obsessional disorders, depression, substance abuse)

TECBD, 2003 Serious Mental Health Problems/ Substance Abuse (cont.) Children with mental health problems are often un- or under-served 20% of children have DSM disorders 10% of children have DSM disorders that significantly impair their functioning 5% of children receive care for mental health problems 1-2% receive services in specialty settings (Castello, Burns, Argold, & Leaf, 1993)

TECBD, 2003 Educational Failure Risks 51.4% of children EB/D dropped out of school, as compared to the national average of 10.7% of children Unemployment rates for high school drop outs is 60% higher than graduates When adults without high school degrees, over 30% earn less than the official poverty rate

TECBD, 2003 Juvenile Justice System Research has found that youth with EB/D are disproportionately involved with the juvenile justice system 8% of all those in facilities have SLD, accounting for 42% of those with disabilities 8% of all those in facilities have EB/D, accounting for 40% of those with disabilities

TECBD, 2003 Why examine costs and benefits? Program evaluation Influence policymakers and global change Decreased funding requires the more efficient and prudent use of allocated funds

TECBD, 2003 Cost of Substance Abuse Substance abuse is costly:  “Every sector of society spends hefty sums of money shoveling up the wreckage of substance abuse and addiction.”  In 1998 more than 13% of state budgets ($81.3 billion) was spent on substance abuse  Of this amount, only 3.7 cents of each state dollar was spent on prevention or research Source: CASA, Columbia University, 2001

TECBD, 2003 Cost of Substance Abuse Two-thirds of juvenile justice costs are related to youth substance abuse Source: CASA, Columbia University, 2001

TECBD, 2003 Costs of Delinquency Important to examine costs as a consequence of non-prevention of BD 2.4 million juvenile arrests in 2000 (Snyder, 2002) Juveniles accounted for 9% (murders) to 33% (burglaries) of all arrests for various types of crime in 2000

TECBD, 2003 Types of Costs Juvenile justice/corrections Lost property and wages Medical and psychological expenses Decreased productivity Pain and suffering Decreased quality of life/societal well-being (e.g., fear of crime, changing lifestyle due to risk of victimization)

TECBD, 2003 Since expenditures allocated to delinquency-related costs, fewer resources are available for education/other government services Opportunity Costs

TECBD, 2003 Who incurs these costs? Victims Government agencies Taxpayers Society Delinquent youth Families

TECBD, 2003 Victimization Costs 1 in 4 U.S. households victimized Crime victims lost $17.6 billion in direct costs in 1992 (includes losses from property theft/damage, cash losses, medical expenses, and amount of pay lost because of injury/activities related to the crime) Loss of life is not included in this estimate Source: U.S. Department of Justice, National Crime Victimization Survey, 1994

TECBD, 2003 Expenditures for the Criminal and Civil Justice System Total: $147 billion in 1999 (police protection, corrections, and judicial/legal activities) 309% increase from Local government funded half of these expenses (note: local government funded 44% of education costs in 1999) Source: U.S. Department of Justice, 1999

TECBD, 2003 Expenditures for the Criminal and Civil Justice System States contributed another 39% ( $4.4 billion in 2000) Source: CASA, 2002 Criminal and civil justice expenditures comprised 7.7% of all state and local expenditures Source: U.S. Department of Justice, 1999

TECBD, 2003 Costs of Juvenile Crime Cost of juvenile crime: Victim costs: $62,000-$250,000 Criminal justice: $21,000-$84,000  Total: $83,000-$335,000 For every 10 crimes committed, only one is caught Chronic juvenile offenders are very likely to become involved in the adult system Source: Cohen, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 1998

TECBD, 2003 Cost-Benefits of Effective Prevention and Intervention Source: Washington State Institute for Public Policy, 2001 ProgramNet Cost per Participant Taxpayer Savings Taxpayer Savings and Victim Benefits Benefit- to-Cost Ratio Early Childhood Education for Disadvantaged Youth $8,936-$4,754$6,972$1.78 Quantum Opportunities Program $18,964-$8,855$16,428$1.87 Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care $2,052$21,836$87,622$43.70

TECBD, 2003 Conclusion Prevention/intervention programs for at- risk youth will not eliminate but can reduce juvenile crime, bringing net benefits to both society and the juvenile Have a long-term vision when considering the costs of prevention programs Consider the impact of incarceration on juvenile offenders and youth with BD