With budgets squeezed at every level of government, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) holds outstanding potential for assessing the efficiency of many programs. In this first book to address the application of CBA to social policy, experts examine ten of the most important policy domains: early childhood development, elementary and secondary schools, health care for the disadvantaged, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction, juvenile crime, prisoner reentry programs, housing assistance, work-incentive programs for the unemployed and employers, and welfare-to-work interventions. Each contributor discusses the applicability of CBA to actual programs, describing both proven and promising examples.

The editors provide an introduction to cost-benefit analysis, assess the programs described, and propose a research agenda for promoting its more widespread application in social policy. Investing in the Disadvantaged considers how to face America’s most urgent social needs with shrinking resources, showing how CBA can be used to inform policy choices that produce social value.

"An important resource for scholars, policymakers and social service providers....devoted to economic, demographic, ethical, legal, public policy, psychological, social service, subcultural and sociological issues relevant to young fathers. This volume contributes to the ongoing process of reframing the early pregnancy an childbearing literature to include young fathers. The empirical chapters include quantitative analyses of national surveys, ethnographic studies of inner-city young men and program evaluations....provide[s] up-to-date overviews of recent policy and programmatic initiatives." --Journal of Adolescence This volume is the first volume to bring together a wide and balanced array of research program and policy perspectives on unwed fatherhood. The essays illuminate the public debate about welfare reform, paternity and child support, and family values.