Exploring Community-Based Options for Reducing Youth Crime

Abstract

BackTrack is a multi-component, community-based intervention designed to build capacity amongst 14–17-year-old high risk young people. The aim of the current study seeks to explore community value and preferences for reducing youth crime and improving community safety using BackTrack in a rural setting in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. The study design used discrete choice experiments (DCEs), designed in accordance with the 10-item checklist outlined by the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. The DCE was pilot tested on 43 participants to test feasibility and comprehension. A revised version of the survey was subsequently completed by 282 people over a 12-day period between 30 May 2016 and 10 June 2016, representing a survey response rate of 35%. Ninety per cent of respondents were residents of Armidale, the local rural town where BackTrack was implemented. The DCE generated results that consistently demonstrated a preference for social programs to address youth crime and community safety in the Armidale area. Respondents chose BackTrack over Greater Police Presence 75% of the time with an annual benefit of Australian dollars (AUD) 150 per household, equivalent to a community benefit of AUD 2.04 million. This study estimates a strong community preference for BackTrack relative to more policing (a community willing to pay equivalent to AUD 2.04 million) highlighting the clear value of including community preferences when evaluating community-based programs for high-risk young people.

A Benefit-Cost Analysis of BackTrack, a Multi-Component, Community-Based Intervention for High-Risk Young People in a Rural Australian Setting

“…In the BackTrack DCE, participants were asked to choose between BackTrack and a policing alternative, with different costs and efficacies. The full methods and results of the DCE are published elsewhere [ 23 ]. The results of the DCE lend support for community preference for community-based interventions like BackTrack compared to a greater police presence, and valued the intervention at (AUD) $150 per household.…”

“…A Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) was used to quantify, in monetary terms, the value that households in the BackTrack community placed on improving outcomes for young people with multiple and complex needs [ 23 ]. DCEs involved the use of a survey to systematically quantify individuals’ preferences in relation to a number of characteristics (attributes) of a program [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia

“…Attaching a value to community benefit is seen as a valuable input in economic evaluations that adopt a social perspective [41]. A recent study by Edmunds et al (2021) used discrete choice experiments to explore community value and preferences for reducing youth crime and improving community safety using BackTrack [42]. The BackTrack program is a multicomponent community intervention targeting 14-17-year-old high risk young people [42][43][44].…”

“…A recent study by Edmunds et al (2021) used discrete choice experiments to explore community value and preferences for reducing youth crime and improving community safety using BackTrack [42]. The BackTrack program is a multicomponent community intervention targeting 14-17-year-old high risk young people [42][43][44]. The authors found a strong community preference for youth based programs such as BackTrack that are community based rather than traditional means of dealing with youth crime through punitive measures [42].…”

“…The BackTrack program is a multicomponent community intervention targeting 14-17-year-old high risk young people [42][43][44]. The authors found a strong community preference for youth based programs such as BackTrack that are community based rather than traditional means of dealing with youth crime through punitive measures [42].…”