Since the 1990s, the Washington State legislature has directed WSIPP to identify “evidence-based” policies. The goal is to provide Washington policymakers and budget writers with a list of well-researched public policies that can, with a high degree of certainty, lead to better statewide outcomes coupled with a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

Research Approach. WSIPP has developed a three-step process to draw conclusions about what works and what does not to achieve particular outcomes of legislative interest. First, we systematically assess all high-quality studies from the United States and elsewhere to identify policy options that have been tested and found to achieve improvements in outcomes. Second, we determine how much it would cost Washington taxpayers to produce the results found in Step 1, and calculate how much it would be worth to people in Washington State to achieve the improved outcome. That is, in dollars and cents terms, we compare the benefits and costs of each policy option. It is important to note that the benefit-cost estimates pertain specifically to Washington State; results will vary from state to state. Third, we assess the risk in the estimates to determine the odds that a particular policy option will at least break even. ...show more

WSIPP acknowledges the MacArthur Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts that have helped fund some of the research reported on this page.

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Overview of WSIPP's Benefit-Cost Model

Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes

For details on our benefit-cost methods, contact Heather Grob or download our Technical Documentation.

Latest Results. The tables on this webpage present our current findings for a variety of public policy topics. Items on these tables are updated periodically as new information becomes available. Interested readers can find more information by clicking each entry in the tables.

Current estimates replace old estimates. Numbers will change over time as a result of model inputs and monetization methods.

All Research Areas	Juvenile Justice	Adult Criminal Justice	Child Welfare	Pre-K to 12 Education	Children's Mental Health	Health Care	Substance Use Disorders	Adult Mental Health	Public Health & Prevention	Workforce Development	Higher Education

Program name (click on the program name for more detail)	Date of last literature review	Total benefits	Taxpayer benefits	Non-taxpayer benefits	Costs	Benefits minus costs (net present value)	Benefit to cost ratio	Chance benefits will exceed costs
Employment counseling and job training (transitional reentry from incarceration into the community)	Aug. 2016	$46,675	$13,463	$33,212	($2,563)	$44,112	$18.21	89 %
Offender Reentry Community Safety Program (for individuals with serious mental illness)	Apr. 2012	$73,398	$25,097	$48,302	($38,600)	$34,798	$1.90	97 %
Circles of Support and Accountability	Nov. 2016	$30,073	$7,299	$22,774	($4,117)	$25,956	$7.30	92 %
Correctional education (post-secondary education)	Jul. 2016	$25,972	$7,084	$18,889	($1,316)	$24,657	$19.74	100 %
Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (for persons convicted of drug offenses)	Nov. 2016	$23,912	$7,113	$16,799	($1,714)	$22,198	$13.95	99 %
Vocational education in prison	Jul. 2016	$18,801	$5,210	$13,591	($1,575)	$17,226	$11.94	98 %
Case management ("swift, certain, and fair") for drug-involved persons	Nov. 2016	$15,801	$4,600	$11,201	$401	$16,202	n/a	99 %
Electronic monitoring (probation)	Dec. 2014	$14,558	$4,114	$10,443	$1,198	$15,756	n/a	93 %
Mental health courts	Oct. 2016	$18,144	$5,260	$12,884	($3,266)	$14,878	$5.56	96 %
Intensive supervision (surveillance and treatment)	Dec. 2016	$13,900	$4,113	$9,787	($856)	$13,045	$16.25	100 %
Reentry courts	Aug. 2016	$17,795	$5,422	$12,373	($5,182)	$12,613	$3.43	95 %
Inpatient or intensive outpatient drug treatment during incarceration	Nov. 2016	$13,762	$3,840	$9,921	($1,358)	$12,403	$10.13	98 %
Therapeutic communities (in the community) for individuals with co-occurring disorders	Nov. 2016	$17,418	$5,158	$12,259	($5,364)	$12,053	$3.25	66 %
Correctional education (basic skills)	Jul. 2016	$12,680	$3,547	$9,133	($1,316)	$11,364	$9.64	98 %
Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (for persons convicted of property offenses)	Nov. 2016	$13,047	$3,992	$9,056	($1,714)	$11,334	$7.61	71 %
Outpatient or non-intensive drug treatment during incarceration	Nov. 2016	$11,080	$3,051	$8,029	($788)	$10,291	$14.05	99 %
Outpatient or non-intensive drug treatment in the community	Nov. 2016	$10,864	$3,235	$7,629	($810)	$10,055	$13.42	100 %
Electronic monitoring (parole)	Dec. 2014	$8,679	$2,149	$6,531	$1,198	$9,878	n/a	100 %
"Swift, certain, and fair" supervision	Jan. 2017	$9,703	$2,672	$7,031	$71	$9,775	n/a	64 %
Therapeutic communities (during incarceration) for individuals with substance use disorders	Nov. 2016	$11,796	$3,131	$8,665	($2,315)	$9,481	$5.09	65 %
Drug courts	Aug. 2016	$14,620	$5,132	$9,488	($5,182)	$9,438	$2.82	100 %
Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI)	Aug. 2016	$24,014	$8,558	$15,456	($15,285)	$8,729	$1.57	90 %
Risk Need and Responsivity supervision (for individuals classified as high- and moderate-risk)	Dec. 2016	$10,036	$3,085	$6,951	($1,444)	$8,592	$6.95	98 %
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (for individuals classified as high- or moderate-risk)	Dec. 2016	$9,270	$2,866	$6,404	($1,470)	$7,800	$6.31	97 %
Therapeutic communities (in the community) for individuals with substance use disorders	Nov. 2016	$10,810	$3,247	$7,562	($3,985)	$6,825	$2.71	59 %
Case management (not "swift, certain, and fair") for drug-involved persons	Nov. 2016	$6,634	$1,653	$4,980	($406)	$6,228	$16.36	59 %
Correctional industries in prison	Jul. 2016	$6,480	$1,791	$4,689	($511)	$5,969	$12.68	100 %
Housing assistance without services	Aug. 2016	$8,006	$2,601	$5,405	($2,112)	$5,895	$3.79	92 %
Work release	Jul. 2016	$4,483	$1,122	$3,362	$530	$5,013	n/a	99 %
Police diversion for low-severity offenses (pre-arrest)	Mar. 2017	$4,114	$1,171	$2,943	$584	$4,698	n/a	87 %
Day reporting centers	Oct. 2016	$8,287	$2,984	$5,303	($4,197)	$4,090	$1.97	76 %
Employment counseling and job training with paid work experience in the community	Aug. 2016	$9,366	$3,560	$5,806	($5,657)	$3,709	$1.66	59 %
Treatment in the community for individuals convicted of sex offenses	Jan. 2017	$4,169	$1,235	$2,934	($2,546)	$1,623	$1.64	59 %
Treatment during incarceration for individuals convicted of sex offenses	Jan. 2017	$6,226	$1,886	$4,340	($4,817)	$1,409	$1.29	62 %
Restorative justice conferencing	Feb. 2017	$2,391	$911	$1,480	($1,166)	$1,225	$2.05	56 %
Jail diversion for individuals with mental illness (post-arrest)	Mar. 2017	$431	($23)	$455	$726	$1,158	n/a	51 %
Intensive supervision (surveillance only)	Dec. 2016	$438	$142	$296	($113)	$325	$3.88	53 %
Employment counseling and job training in the community	Aug. 2016	$1,320	$676	$644	($2,069)	($749)	$0.64	41 %
Sex offender registration and community notification	Nov. 2016	($1,942)	($399)	($1,543)	($369)	($2,311)	($5.27)	32 %
Inpatient or intensive outpatient drug treatment in the community	Nov. 2016	($1,637)	($121)	($1,517)	($937)	($2,574)	($1.75)	47 %
Life skills education	Dec. 2016	($1,711)	($295)	($1,417)	($1,206)	($2,917)	($1.42)	35 %
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) courts	Aug. 2016	$4,609	$2,676	$1,933	($8,246)	($3,638)	$0.56	19 %
Domestic violence perpetrator treatment (Duluth-based model)	Aug. 2014	($2,242)	($424)	($1,817)	($1,525)	($3,767)	($1.47)	24 %
Violence reduction treatment	Dec. 2016	($399)	$604	($1,004)	($5,346)	($5,746)	($0.07)	28 %
Housing assistance with services	Aug. 2016	$1,184	$2,086	($902)	($12,168)	($10,984)	$0.10	3 %
Community-based correctional facilities (halfway houses)	Aug. 2016	($6,327)	($509)	($5,818)	($8,823)	($15,150)	($0.72)	0 %
Police diversion for individuals with mental illness (pre-arrest)	Mar. 2017	($13,787)	($1,998)	($11,790)	($5,030)	($18,817)	($2.74)	24 %
Injectable naltrexone for opioid use disorder for adults post-release	Mar. 2021	($2,939)	$1,083	($4,022)	($17,437)	($20,376)	($0.17)	0 %
Methadone for opioid use disorder for adults post-release	Apr. 2021	($9,168)	$216	($9,383)	($19,599)	($28,766)	($0.47)	0 %

Policy
Program name (click on the program name for more detail)	Date of last literature review	Total benefits	Taxpayer benefits	Non-taxpayer benefits	Costs	Benefits minus costs (net present value)	Benefit to cost ratio	Chance benefits will exceed costs
For individuals classified as lower risk, decrease prison average daily population by 250, by lowering length of stay by 3 months	Oct. 2013	($4,523)	($888)	($3,636)	$6,185	$1,661	n/a	68 %
For individuals classified as moderate risk, decrease prison average daily population by 250, by lowering length of stay by 3 months	Oct. 2013	($15,984)	($2,559)	($13,425)	$6,185	($9,799)	n/a	8 %
For individuals classified as high risk, decrease prison average daily population by 250, by lowering length of stay by 3 months	Oct. 2013	($34,252)	($4,936)	($29,316)	$6,185	($28,068)	n/a	0 %

Police (results per-officer)
Program name (click on the program name for more detail)	Date of last literature review	Total benefits	Taxpayer benefits	Non-taxpayer benefits	Costs	Benefits minus costs (net present value)	Benefit to cost ratio	Chance benefits will exceed costs
Deploy one additional police officer with hot spots strategies	Oct. 2013	$540,287	$70,181	$470,106	($101,608)	$438,679	$5.32	100 %
Deploy one additional police officer with statewide average practices	Oct. 2013	$470,312	$60,618	$409,694	($96,769)	$373,543	$4.86	100 %

Program name (click on the program name for more detail)	Date of last literature review	Notes
Buprenorphine for opioid use disorder for adults post-release	Mar. 2021	Click for meta-analytic results
Civil legal aid	Mar. 2017	Click for meta-analytic results
Day fines	Feb. 2017	Click for meta-analytic results
Deferred prosecution of DUI offenses	Mar. 2017	Click for meta-analytic results
Dialectical behavior therapy	Sep. 2015	Click for meta-analytic results
Domestic violence perpetrator treatment (Non-Duluth models)	Aug. 2014	Click for meta-analytic results
Ignition interlock devices for alcohol-related offenses	Mar. 2014	Click for meta-analytic results
Legal financial obligation repayment interventions	Jan. 2017	Click for meta-analytic results
Mandatory arrest for domestic violence NEW	Jun. 2022	Click for meta-analytic results
Parenting programs (for incarcerated parents)	Aug. 2016	Click for meta-analytic results
Revocation reduction programs	Mar. 2017	Click for meta-analytic results
Therapeutic communities for individuals with personality disorders	Dec. 2016	Click for meta-analytic results
Banning criminal record check boxes in hiring	Nov. 2016	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Cautioning for cannabis offenses	Mar. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Child support barriers	Mar. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Mentoring programs	Mar. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Pretrial detention	Feb. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Project Sentry	Mar. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
State ID provision	Mar. 2017	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Veteran's courts	Jul. 2016	No rigorous evaluation measuring outcome of interest.
Adult boot camps	Oct. 2006	See previous WSIPP publication for past findings.
Click to expand

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