Making the Case for Domestic Violence Prevention Through the Lens of Cost-Benefit
A Manual for Domestic Violence Prevention Practitioners
(and the State and Local Policy-Makers They Present to)
Net Benefit
The difference between the initial cost of a program and its benefit is the net benefit. To calculate the net benefit of a program, subtract the costs of a program from its benefits, both being measured in dollars.
EXAMPLE:
A new premarital domestic violence education program for people who have just applied for a marriage license costs $150,000 its first year.
The domestic violence rate among people married one year or less who participated in this premarital education now drops, thereby saving the community $300,000 in costs of services responding to domestic violence among that newlywed population.
The apparent benefit of that program is $300,000 for that year.
Subtract program cost of $150,000 from benefit of $300,000.
Now we can say that the net benefit of that prevention program is $150,000 that year.
On the other hand, when program costs exceed program benefits, the net benefit of the program would be a negative number. Using the above example, if program costs had been $400,000 and the benefit had still been $300,000, then the costs would have exceeded the benefits by $100,000.