A Benefit-Cost Analysis of BackTrack, a Multi-Component, Community-Based Intervention for High-Risk Young People in a Rural Australian Setting
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15470217 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Deeming (0000-0002-5418-3936, Hunter Medical Research Institute), Kim Edmunds (0000-0001-7379-1294, Hunter Medical Research Institute), Alice Knight (Sax Institute), Andrew Searles (0000-0002-9452-9735, Hunter Medical Research Institute), Anthony Shakeshaft (0000-0002-5472-0930, UNSW Sydney), Christopher M Doran (0000-0002-9009-4906, Central Queensland University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 16 |
| Pages | 10273-10273 |
| Publication date | 2022-08-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601 |
| Publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3390/ijerph191610273 |
| PMID | 36011908 |
| OpenAlex | W4292246797 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
BackTrack is a multi-component, community-based program designed to build capacity amongst high-risk young people. The aim of this study was to conduct a benefit-cost analysis of BackTrack, which was implemented in Armidale, a rural town in New South Wales, Australia. Costs and benefits were identified, measured and valued in 2016 Australian dollars. Costs were estimated from program financial and administrative records. Benefits were estimated using a pre-post design and conservative economic assumptions. Benefits included education attendance or completion; employment; engagement with health service providers; reduced homelessness; economic productivity; reduced vandalism to local infrastructure; reduced youth crime; reduced engagement with the justice system; and program income generated by participants. The counterfactual baseline was zero educational outcome, based on discussions with BackTrack staff and expert informants. We tested this assumption compared to the assumption that participants had a Year 8 education. There was evidence of significant quantifiable improvements in several outcomes: high school attendance or completion, vocational education attendance or completion, unskilled or vocationally qualified employment and economic productivity. Reduced homelessness, engagement with health services and acquisition of job readiness skills, as well as reduced local infrastructure vandalism and reduced crime were further quantifiable improvements. The net social benefit of BackTrack was estimated at $3,267,967 with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.03, meaning that every dollar invested in BackTrack would return $2.03 in benefits. BackTrack represents a viable funding option for a government interested in addressing the needs of high-risk young people
Attendance · Business · Counterfactual thinking · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Political science · Productivity · Program evaluation · Community Health and Development · Employment and Welfare Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Social Psychology
Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine
Causal Inference Using Potential Outcomes
Conducting Discrete Choice Experiments to Inform Healthcare Decision Making
Costing alcohol‐related assault in the night‐time economy from a societal perspective
Improving the evidence base for services working with youth at-risk of involvement in the criminal justice system
The Feasibility of Embedding Data Collection into the Routine Service Delivery of a Multi-Component Program for High-Risk Young People
Exploring Community-Based Options for Reducing Youth Crime
The Cost of Youth Suicide in Australia
The Costs of Urban Property Crime
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |