NCJ Number
82809
Date Published
1982
Length
29 pages
Annotation
The Teaching Family Model (TFM) for the treatment of juvenile delinquency was evaluated by means of a cost-effectiveness study which compared 26 TFM homes with 26 community-based comparison programs.
Abstract
TFM is a comprehensive, behaviorally-oriented residential program. Youths live in groups of five to eight in a home supervised by a young married couple, called teaching parents. The youths attend local schools, engage in various community activities, and visit their own families on weekends. The most important treatment components are a point motivation system, a self-government system that includes a daily family conference and a peer manager, the systematic teaching of social skills, academic tutoring, and monitoring of school performance. The 5-year evaluation compared the clients of TFM and the comparison programs with respect to deviant behavior, school performance, job attainment, and social and personality variables. The comparisons occurred before treatment began, 3 months before and after discharge, and up to 3 years following discharge. The attainment of these outcomes was examined in terms of its relationship to program costs. Findings revealed that TFM homes were 7 percent less expensive to operate per day than the other programs and cost about 20 percent less per client. The cost-effectiveness was better for TFM programs on measures of school performance. However, the program output in terms of reduced deviant behavior, occupational status, or social and personality adjustment was equivalent for the two samples. Nevertheless, further analysis showed that that manner in which the TFM parents performed certain treatment components had a small but noticeable effect on youth outcomes. Given the probable expansion of TFM and other programs, program improvements through better screening of youths and better selection and training of teaching parents are needed. Tables, notes, and a list of 29 references are provided.