Cost-Benefit Comparative Analysis Between Incarceration and Alternative-to Incarceration

The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) is the largest nonprofit alternative-to-incarceration agency in New York State. CASES is interested in demonstrating its cost-effectiveness as a strategy for securing adequate public funding in the future. The Capstone team calculated the potential cost savings to New York City and State of diverting teenage felony offenders from incarceration into CASES’s Court Employment Project (CEP). The team also created and administered a survey instrument that compared CEP participants with adolescents recently released from jail or prison. The survey measured the degree to which participants possess certain goals, attitudes, and skills indicative of desirable CEP outcomes that may result in future benefits to the City and State.