The Baltimore Pregnancy Prevention Program for Urban Teenagers: II. What Did it Cost?

Abstract

An experimental pregnancy prevention program for junior and senior high school students consisted of classroom lectures, informal discussion groups and individual counseling in the schools and group education, individual counseling and reproductive health care in a nearby clinic. The structure of the program allowed for extensive individual counseling for students who desired it, and the reported costs are thus considered generous. School-based services utilized 40 percent of a total three-year budget of $409,250, and clinic services, 60 percent. The average cost per student served was $122, with the average per female student almost four times that per male and the average per senior high student more than twice that per junior high student. Students who utilized more expensive types of services, such as individual counseling and medical services in the clinic, also used other program offerings more frequently. Services to students who attended only class lectures cost an average of $13.20 to deliver, while students who utilized all services cost the program an average of $546 each.

Involvement in service delivery activities for children affected by AIDS: A survey of Wisconsin school psychologists.

“…Furthermore, involving parents and including age-appropriate follow-up sessions are important components of prevention programs (Botvin et al, 1983; Foreman & Linney, 1988; Schaps et al, 1981). Offering counseling services, health education, and positive alternatives to high-risk behaviors are also integral aspects of many successful prevention programs (Edwards, Steinman, Arnold & Hakanson, 1980; Paget, 1988; Zabin, Hirsch, Streett, Emerson, Smith, Hardy, & King, 1988). Because primary prevention is the major goal underlying most substance abuse, pregnancy, and AIDS programs, there is justification for generalizing findings from research evaluating successful drug and alcohol and pregnancy programs in schools to AIDS programs.…”