Comparative costs of multidimensional treatment foster care
Responsive study for Department for Children, Schools and Families (previously Deparment for Education and Skills).
The Cost Calculator for Children's Services (CCfCS) was developed as part of the CCFR research project: Costs and Consequences of Different Types of Childcare Provision. This study identified and calculated unit costs of eight processes that support the case management of looked after children.
For each of the eight processes, variations in activity were identified according to the type of placement provided, the needs of the child and policies within authorities.
This study focussed on the costs of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care, analysing the costs associated with providing the programme compared with the costs incurred by children with similar needs who are in alternative placements.
The study has been completed and a copy can be downloaded here.
MTFC is a specialist model of foster care developed by Oregon Social Learning Center, USA, which is designed to provide a therapeutic environment that addresses the needs of young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The model is currently being piloted in 21 local authorities in England and Wales.
The study aimed to calculate the costs incurred over a specific time period to a range of agencies by children who were experiencing treatment foster care and to compare these with the costs incurred by children in similar circumstances who received a different type of placement.
- Data were collected on a sample of 24 children across five of the piloting local authorities, for the year prior to placement in MTFC, during MTFC and, where appropriate, subsequent placements.
- Data were also collected on the alternative placement identified at the point the decision to place the child in MTFC was made, and the child’s pathway after MTFC, whether they left care or moved to a different placement.
- In order to calculate unit costs for MTFC and other placements that the children in the sample experienced, activity information was collected from focus groups and event records completed by the MTFC team and the child’s allocated social worker. Finance information including llowances paid to carers, placement fees and salary scales was also obtained.
- The unit costs of MTFC were calculated and the data imported into the Cost Calculator for Children’s Services (see page 12) for analysis and comparisons with alternative placement types.
The findings will provide a greater understanding of the costs of MTFC and how hey compare to those of other placements, which will allow practitioners to make informed decisions about the most effective pathways both in terms of costs and outcomes for children.
Holmes, L., Westlake, D. and Ward, H. (forthcoming 2008) The costs of Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care: Report to DCSF. Loughborough: CCFR.
Holmes, L. and Westlake, D. (2008) ‘Comparing costs of multidimensional treatment foster care with those of other placements.’ Paper presented at the Care Matters: Transforming Lives – Improving Outcomes Conference, incorporating the 8 th International Looking After Children Conference, 7-9 July 2008, Keble College Oxford UK.
Lisa Holmes
David Westlake
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