Parent-Child Assistance Program Outcomes Suggest
Sources of Cost Savings for Washington State.
Grant, T., and Casey Family Programs for the University of Washington (2013). Available here.
This brief presents estimates of cost savings, when available, rather than a cost-benefit analysis. Cost estimates are in 2012 dollars and based on PCAP outcome and other sources of existing data. Cost savings are estimated for the following categories:
• Savings from reduced dependence on child welfare
• Savings from fewer subsequent alcohol- and drug-exposed infants
• Reduced dependence on public assistance
• Increased employment
• Increased levels of education
• Reductions in subsequent birth rates for mothers on Medicaid
An Economic Evaluation of the Parent–Child Assistance Program for Preventing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Alberta, Canada.
Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Egon Jonsson, Jessica Moffatt, Liz Dennett, Anderson W. Chuck, Shelley Birchard (2015). Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42:10–18.
Parent–Child Assistance Program (PCAP) is a 3-year home visitation/harm reduction intervention to prevent alcohol exposed births, thereby births with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, among high-risk women. Using data from the PCAP within the Alberta Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Service Networks in Canada, it is the first study estimating the incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) and the net monetary benefit of a PCAP program. The results estimate that the PCAP program prevented approximately 31 (range 20–43) cases of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder among the 366 clients in a 3-year period. The net monetary benefit is approximately $22 million (range $13–$31 million). Results indicate that the program is cost–effective and the net monetary benefit is significant. We should note that the benefit is likely underestimated as the study did not include benefits from the reduction in unemployment and welfare income dependence rates among PCAP participants.