110721 victim costs webinar final

Demystifying Victim CostsJuly 25, 2011Tina Stanford, Director, New York State Office of Victim ServicesKathryn McCollister, Assistant Professor, University of Miami, School of MedicineValerie Levshin, Policy Analyst, Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit, Vera Institute of Justice Slide 1

WelcomeDemystifying Victim CostsThe webinar will start at 2pm.Call 1-800-659-6930 for the audio portion of thewebinar. Slide 2

Demystifying Victim CostsTina Stanford Kathryn McCollister Valerie Levshin Director Assistant Professor Policy Analyst NYS Office of University of Miami Vera Institute of Victim Services School of Medicine Justice Slide 3

Why Examine Victim Costs • The justice system seeks to prevent and address victimization and its consequences• Analysis of criminal justice programs and policies has to account for victim costs Slide 4

Today’s AgendaThe Role of Victim Costs in Cost-Benefit 5 minutes AnalysisOverview of Victim Costs 15 minutesMethods for Estimating Victim Costs 15 minutesDiscussion and Q & A 20 minutes Slide 5

Housekeeping items Questions  Use the chat feature to send us your questions at any time during the webinar.  We will address your questions after each section of the presentation. Slide 6

Housekeeping itemsWebinar support and troubleshooting  Call: (800) 843-9166  Email: help@readytalk.comThis webinar is being recordedThe recording and PowerPoint will be posted to cbkb.org Slide 7

The Role of Victim Costs inCost-Benefit Analysis Valerie Levshin Policy Analyst Vera Institute of Justice Slide 8

What is Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)?• A tool to assess the pros and cons of policies and programs• A method for finding out what will achieve the greatest net benefit to society• An approach to policymaking Slide 9

CBA in Five Steps1. Determine the impact of the initiative2. Determine whose perspectives matter3. Measure costs4. Measure benefits (in dollars)5. Compare costs and benefits Slide 10

The Role of Victim Costs in a CBA• Crime imposes costs on victims• If a program or policy affects crime, CBA needs to account for victim costs• If it increases crime, measure the victim costs• If it decreases crime, measure the victim benefits (avoided victim costs) Slide 11

Measuring Victim Costs?• Placing a dollar value on rape? Murder?• Is it possible?• Is it ethical?• Is it necessary? Slide 12

Research Progress• Researchers have developed methods to measure the monetary and the non-monetary victim costs• These estimates can be used in CBA and other analyses Slide 13

Why It Matters• Measuring victim costs helps measure the full benefits of programs and policies that reduce crime, and compare them to costs • Brings victims’ perspectives into the conversation on policy and budget decisions. Slide 14

Overview of Victim Costs Tina Stanford Director NY Office of Victim Services Slide 15

New York State Office of Victim Services• Compensates victims for out-of-pocket expenses• Funds community-based services for victims• Advocates for victims’ rights Slide 16

Why Measure Victim Costs in PolicyAnalysis?• To educate criminal justice professionals and policymakers on victimization costs• To justify increased funding for crime prevention initiatives• To understand the importance of restitution and compensation Slide 17

Monetary (Tangible) Victim Costs• Medical expenses• Counseling services• Essential personal property• Lost earnings Slide 18

Monetary (Tangible) Victim Costs• Transportation to court appearances• Crime scene cleanup• Moving expenses• Occupational rehabilitation expenses• Cost of services of domestic violence shelter• Burial expenses Slide 19

Non-Monetary (Intangible) Costs• Pain and suffering• Fear• Decreased quality of life• Psychological distress Slide 20

Case Study #1: Physical Injury Claim• Child sexual abuse• Over $200,000 to date• Dissociative Identity Disorder• In-patient and out-patient counseling Slide 21

Case Study #2: Personal Property Claim• Petit Larceny• Claimant over 60• Over $900 for boxspring and mattress• Over $800 for suitcase of clothing• $1,000 deductible• $500 maximum paid Slide 22

Questions Slide 23

Methods for EstimatingVictim Costs Kathryn McCollister Assistant Professor University of Miami, School of Medicine Slide 24

Health Economics Research Group(HERG) at the University of Miami• Members include health economics faculty from departments of Sociology, Epidemiology and Public Health, and affiliated institutions• Conducts research on the economics of: • substance abuse treatment and prevention • HIV/AIDS • criminal justice programs • mental health • other Slide 25

Background• 2010 Study: The cost of crime to society: New crime- specific estimates for policy and program evaluation.• Measured the main components of the societal cost of crime:  Criminal justice system costs  Crime career costs  Victim costs Slide 26

Victim Costs• Our 2010 study estimated the societal cost of crime including victim costs across 13 offenses.• Crime cost estimates are used to measure the economic impact of substance abuse treatment and crime prevention programs. Slide 27

Costs Included in the StudyMonetary Non-Monetary(Tangible) Costs (Intangible) Costsmedical care pain and sufferinglost wages decreased quality of lifeproperty loss/damage psychological distresscash lossescounselingrisk-of-homicide(lifetime earnings) Slide 28

Why Include Intangible Costs?• True societal impact of crimes such as aggravated assault, rape/sexual assault, and robbery would be underestimated if intangible victim losses were not included.• Direct/tangible costs only account for 12 – 47% of total crime costs for these offenses. Slide 29

Methods for Estimating Victim Costs• Cost-of-illness (COI)• Jury compensation method• Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) Slide 30

Cost-of-Illness Method• Used to measures tangible victim costs• Tangible victim cost per crime = total national cost / number of crimes • Department of Justice collects data on medical expenses, cash losses, property theft/damage, and lost earnings for 6 crime categories. • Federal Emergency Management Agency collects data on arson-related damages. • Bureau of Justice Statistics collects data on the number of crime in each category Slide 31

Cost-of-Illness Method (cont)• Mental health costs • Cohen & Miller (1998) surveyed mental health care professionals about treatment provided to patients that had been victims of crime • Estimated value of counseling/treatment by victims per offense Slide 32

Cost-of-Illness Method (cont)• Risk-of-homicide costs • Multiply the probability that a certain type of offense will lead to a homicide by individuals’ average lifetime earnings • Lifetime earnings used to value lost life Slide 33

Jury Compensation Method• Used to measure intangible (pain and suffering) costs• Intangible cost = jury award – tangible cost• Tangible costs here included medical expenses and lost wages.• Study measured intangible costs for 4 categories: murder, rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault Slide 34

Jury Compensation Method• Jury awards are for injuries, not for crimes,• But, we can link the two based on probability of sustaining typical crime-related injuries such as broken bones, gun shot wounds, etc.• National Crime Victimization Surveys report per offense probability of an injury resulting from crime• Intangible cost per crime = probability of an injury per crime x intangible award per injury Slide 35

Willingness-to-Pay Method• Measures intangible costs• Estimates society’s willingness to pay to avoid a victimization by survey• Survey of more than 1,000 residents revealed that the average household is willing to pay $100-$150 to reduce serious crimes by 10% in their area. • rape/sexual assault $286,277 • armed robbery $280,237 • serious assault $84,555 • burglary $30,197 Slide 36

Example: Breakdown of Tangible Costs of aRobbery• Economic loss: $1,357 • Total economic loss of all robberies divided by number of robberies • $967,280,000 / 712,610• Risk-of-homicide cost: $1,663• Mental health cost: $1,047• Total robbery cost: $3,299 Slide 37

Example: Breakdown of Intangible Costs ofa RobberyIntangible cost per crime = probability of an injury per crime x intangible award per injury Type of Injury Average Jury Pain-and-Suffering Award EstimateGunshot wound $63,404 $48,492Broken bones + internalinjury $34,020 $20,591Knife wound $34,020 $30,327Knocked unconscious $6,239 $4,200Bruises, cuts, etc. $1,826 $1,359All other injuries $1,826 $1,042 Slide 38

Victim CostsType of Offense Tangible Cost Intangible Cost Total CostMurder $8,442,000Rape/Sexual Assault $5,556 $199,642 $205,085Aggravated Assault $8,770 $95,023 $96,254Robbery $3,299 $22,575 $24,211Arson $11,452 $5,133 $16,127Motor Vehicle Theft $16,114 $262 $6,352Household Burglary $1,362 $321 $1,653Larceny/Theft $480 $10 $489 Slide 39

Challenges and Limitations• Study uses national data; local costs may be different• No estimates for drug crimes• Costs of psychological distress are not included• Costs of crime prevention efforts like burglar alarms not included. Slide 40

Discussion Slide 41

Discussion Use the chat feature to send us your questions. Slide 42

Wrap-Up Slide 43

References• McCollister, Kathryn E., Michael T. French, and Hai Fang. (2010). The cost of crime to society: New crime-specific estimates for policy and program evaluation. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 108, no. 1-2, 98-109.• Miller, Ted R., Mark A. Cohen, and Brian Wiersema. (1996). Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.• Cohen, Mark A. (1998). The Monetary Value of Saving a High-Risk Youth. Journal of Quantitative Criminology. 14, 1, 5-33. Slide 44

Follow-upPlease complete the evaluation form as you leave this training.Share your comments and questions with us on Twitter and Facebook • www.twitter.com/CBKBank, hashtag #cbkbwebinar • www.facebook.com/costbenefitVisit the Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for CriminalJustice at http://cbkb.org.Subscribe to receive updates from CBKB. Slide 45

The Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice (CBKB) is aproject of the Vera Institute of Justice funded by the U.S.Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. • Website (cbkb.org) • Cost-Benefit Analysis Toolkit • Snapshots of CBA Literature • Podcasts, Videocasts, and Webinars • Roundtable Discussions • Community of Practice Slide 46

Contact InformationTina StanfordTina.stanford@ovs.ny.govKathryn McCollisterkmccolli@med.miami.eduValerie Levshinvlevshin@vera.orgcbkb@cbkb.orghttp://www.cbkb.org Slide 47

This project is supported by Grant No. 2009-MU-BX K029 awarded by the Bureau ofJustice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office ofJustice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the NationalInstitute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, andthe Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, andTracking. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and donot represent the official position or policies of the United States Department ofJustice. Slide 48

Thank you! Slide 49

110721 victim costs webinar final

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