Here we are, making the case for the prevention of domestic violence through the lens of cost-benefit! This Manual has thus far explored cost terms, cost-benefit approaches, the importance of theory, and the use of relevant data in making the case.  Now, let’s put all of this information together into an actual case statement in support of your prevention program.  

This chapter provides worksheets that guide you through a step-by-step process to develop your case. These worksheets offer three columns: the first column has a series of questions to answer; the second column provides sample answers based on a hypothetical domestic violence prevention program; and the third column has space for you to write in your own information. Once you have completed these worksheets, you have made your case! You can then format your case into a concise summary to share with policy-makers, funders, and community members who are involved in supporting or sustaining your prevention program.

The example in the following worksheet focuses levels 1-3 on The Spectrum of Community Change: Strengthening Individual Knowledge and Skills, Promoting Community Education and Educating Providers. We have chosen to focus on these lower levels in order to more clearly demonstrate the tools of cost-benefit. As mentioned earlier in this Manual, however, we believe that it is critical to work on multiple levels of the Spectrum and that true prevention will happen only when all levels are being reached. To do a true cost-benefit analysis of a domestic violence prevention program on the higher levels, significantly more time and resources than most domestic violence organizations have available to them would be required. We hope that as our field evolves, more studies and funding will allow us to measure our impact on these other levels.  

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