ABSTRACT
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is a technique for systematically assessing the efficiency impacts of policies. CBA came into common use in the United States in the evaluation of flood-control projects in the 1930s. The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) has evaluated several juvenile justice interventions to determine whether these programs reduce recidivism and whether the benefits outweigh the program costs. When the Washington legislature requests reviews of alternatives for addressing some policy problem, WSIPP conducts a meta-analysis of evaluations of relevant programs. The following excerpt describes its CBA of the King County education and employment training (EET) program. It provides employment counseling and modest financial incentives to increase high school completion and employment readiness for moderate- to high-risk juvenile offenders 15 years old and older. The primary outcome was the rate of recidivism over the two years following EET participation for the King County sample and two years for the comparison group.
