Return on investment of the pathways to prevention project from the reduced probability of the onset of serious youth offending

Matthew Manning, Gabriel T.W. Wong, Ross Homel, Jacqueline Allen and Kate Frieberg

Children and Youth Services Review, 2025, vol. 179, issue C

Abstract: This paper estimates the return on investment (ROI) of the Pathways to Prevention Project’s Communication Program. The program was an enriched preschool curriculum delivered over two years as part of a broader developmental crime prevention initiative with four-year-old children, their families, and local preschools in an economically disadvantaged urban Queensland community. Results show that for every dollar spent, the Communication Program generated an average return of 7.65 in savings (2024 Australian dollars) from avoided court-adjudicated youth offending. The Pathways to Prevention Project is the first Australian early-in-life crime prevention initiative to present scientifically persuasive evidence for effectiveness in reducing the probability of onset of serious youth offending, offering a counternarrative to prevailing expensive youth justice policies centered on child accountability and harsh punishments.

Keywords: Pathways to Prevention; Economic analysis; Multi-faceted early intervention program; Youth justice; Cost-benefit analysis; Communication program; Children’s communication skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:179:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925005158

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108632

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