Steve Aos presents at the Unit's seminar on Informing investment decisions for children's services

At the first of the Unit's seminar series this year, Steve Aos presented on this work with the Unit to devise an economic model to improve outcomes for less. Click here to find out more about the presentation. 

What if commissioners of social services could have their own version of "Which?" magazine that could tell them the impact of competing investment choices on child and adult well-being, as well as the costs and economic returns of various portfolios of prevention and early intervention programmes? 
 
What if this tool - using the highest standards of scientific evidence - could be tailored to the needs and circumstances of children and adults in these policy makers' particular areas or jurisdictions?
 
The Social Research Unit is currently translating the economic model and software tool for use in the UK that was pioneered by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) and used for more than a decade to make investment decisions in a wide range of policy areas in the American state of Washington. The UK version will be made freely available to inform central and local government investment decisions.
 
At the session, Steve Aos, Director of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy described the strategy that WSIPP is taking to advise the state legislature to improve outcomes for less money, with lessons for UK policy makers. Michael Little, Co-director of the Social Research Unit, described the work to translate the model for use in the UK.
 
Aos, who previously gave the 2010 Social Research Unit Annual Lecture, has 35 years of experience conducting cost-benefit analyses and communicating the results to policy makers in a wide range of public policy areas, as well as in the private sector.
 
A copy of the issue brief describing the project is available for download below.  Click on the link below to download a PDF version of Steve's presentation. PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE THE INFORMATION IN THE SLIDESHOW, AS THIS REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS. 
 
Additionally, a video summarizing the event is attached to the story, however if you are interested in viewing a video of the whole event, please contact Dwan Kaoukji at dkaoukji@dartington.org.uk.