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The WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center, as part of a multi-year study, partnered with the Oregon Youth Authority and app-creator Efficacity to create Healthy U, a tablet-based application designed to curb unplanned teen pregnancy by educating young males, ages 14–19, who are living in juvenile justice facilities.

The cost to implement such interventions is a critical consideration for practitioners and policymakers when they decide how and whether to implement a specific program. In conjunction with the development of the Healthy U app and impact study, WestEd conducted a comprehensive cost analysis to better understand the costs associated with preparation and delivery.

Key findings from the brief include the following:

• The average cost to deliver Healthy U to youths in juvenile justice facilities was $850 per youth.
• The costs of Healthy U are similar to those of other evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention approaches.
• Implementation costs represented 53 percent of the total cost to deliver Healthy U.
• Technology setup costs accounted for 11 percent of the total cost to deliver Healthy U, and the tablets accounted for an additional 11 percent of the total cost.
• The average cost to deliver Healthy U varied across the facilities in the evaluation, based on the number of participating youths, and the cost was lowest in the facility with the largest number of eligible youths.

Read R&D Alert Online to learn more about Healthy U and its impact study.