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Washington State Institute for Public Policy
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Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence

Public Health & Prevention: School-based
Benefit-cost methods last updated December 2023.  Literature review updated January 2019.
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Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence is a school-based life skills education program designed for students in middle school. Trained school personnel deliver the curriculum's 45-minute sessions, which focus on social and emotional learning (SEL), preventing substance use and bullying behaviors, character development, and service-learning. Although Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence typically consists of over 100 sessions, our review is based on the 40-lesson version evaluated by Eisen et al. (2003).
 
ALL
BENEFIT-COST
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS
For an overview of WSIPP's Benefit-Cost Model, please see this guide. The estimates shown are present value, life cycle benefits and costs. All dollars are expressed in the base year chosen for this analysis (2022). The chance the benefits exceed the costs are derived from a Monte Carlo risk analysis. The details on this, as well as the economic discount rates and other relevant parameters are described in our Technical Documentation.
Benefit-Cost Summary Statistics Per Participant
Benefits to:
Taxpayers $263 Benefits minus costs $891
Participants $503 Benefit to cost ratio $72.41
Others $108 Chance the program will produce
Indirect $29 benefits greater than the costs 70%
Total benefits $903
Net program cost ($12)
Benefits minus cost $891

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic in order to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the types of program impacts that were measured in the research literature (for example, crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information.

Adjusted effect sizes are used to calculate the benefits from our benefit cost model. WSIPP may adjust effect sizes based on methodological characteristics of the study. For example, we may adjust effect sizes when a study has a weak research design or when the program developer is involved in the research. The magnitude of these adjustments varies depending on the topic area.

WSIPP may also adjust the second ES measurement. Research shows the magnitude of some effect sizes decrease over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. We also report the unadjusted effect size to show the effect sizes before any adjustments have been made. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured Treatment age No. of effect sizes Treatment N Adjusted effect sizes(ES) and standard errors(SE) used in the benefit - cost analysis Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
First time ES is estimated Second time ES is estimated
ES SE Age ES SE Age ES p-value
12 1 2658 0.015 0.037 13 0.015 0.037 13 0.015 0.684
12 1 2658 -0.096 0.037 13 -0.096 0.037 13 -0.096 0.009
12 1 2658 0.017 0.035 13 0.017 0.035 13 0.017 0.621
12 1 2658 0.020 0.043 13 0.020 0.043 13 0.020 0.633
12 1 2658 -0.024 0.050 13 -0.024 0.050 23 -0.024 0.632
1In addition to the outcomes measured in the meta-analysis table, WSIPP measures benefits and costs estimated from other outcomes associated with those reported in the evaluation literature. For example, empirical research demonstrates that high school graduation leads to reduced crime. These associated measures provide a more complete picture of the detailed costs and benefits of the program.

2“Others” includes benefits to people other than taxpayers and participants. Depending on the program, it could include reductions in crime victimization, the economic benefits from a more educated workforce, and the benefits from employer-paid health insurance.

3“Indirect benefits” includes estimates of the net changes in the value of a statistical life and net changes in the deadweight costs of taxation.
Detailed Monetary Benefit Estimates Per Participant
Affected outcome: Resulting benefits:1 Benefits accrue to:
Taxpayers Participants Others2 Indirect3 Total
Cannabis use before end of middle school Criminal justice system $44 $0 $105 $22 $171
Problem alcohol use Labor market earnings associated with problem alcohol use $211 $498 $0 $0 $709
Property loss associated with problem alcohol use $0 $1 $2 $0 $4
Health care associated with problem alcohol use $14 $3 $15 $7 $38
Mortality associated with problem alcohol $1 $2 $0 $10 $12
Program cost Adjustment for deadweight cost of program $0 $0 $0 ($9) ($30)
Totals $263 $503 $108 $29 $903
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Detailed Annual Cost Estimates Per Participant
Annual cost Year dollars Summary
Program costs $11 2018 Present value of net program costs (in 2022 dollars) ($12)
Comparison costs $0 2018 Cost range (+ or -) 20%
The per-participant cost includes the cost of providing training and materials to teachers, and the cost of program-related teacher time that occurs outside of regular school hours. We assume teachers receive a one-day training outside of regular school hours. Teacher training and program material costs are based on those reported by Lions Quest online (https://www.lions-quest.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Pricelist2017.pdf) and by Marketing and Sales Specialist Maurice Van Horne on March 5, 2019. We estimate the value of teacher time during training using average Washington State compensation costs (including benefits) for the 2017-18 school year as reported by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/safs/pub/per/1718/all.pdf). We assume each trained teacher delivers the program to a class of 28.53 students, the 7th- grade general education class size indicated in RCW 28A.150.260 (https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=28a.150.260).
The figures shown are estimates of the costs to implement programs in Washington. The comparison group costs reflect either no treatment or treatment as usual, depending on how effect sizes were calculated in the meta-analysis. The cost range reported above reflects potential variation or uncertainty in the cost estimate; more detail can be found in our Technical Documentation.
Benefits Minus Costs
Benefits by Perspective
Taxpayer Benefits by Source of Value
Benefits Minus Costs Over Time (Cumulative Discounted Dollars)
The graph above illustrates the estimated cumulative net benefits per-participant for the first fifty years beyond the initial investment in the program. We present these cash flows in discounted dollars. If the dollars are negative (bars below $0 line), the cumulative benefits do not outweigh the cost of the program up to that point in time. The program breaks even when the dollars reach $0. At this point, the total benefits to participants, taxpayers, and others, are equal to the cost of the program. If the dollars are above $0, the benefits of the program exceed the initial investment.

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Eisen, M., Zellman, G.L., & Murray, D.M. (2003). Evaluating the Lions-Quest Skills for Adolescence drug education program: Second-year behavior outcomes. Addictive Behaviors, 28(5), 883-897.