title: Economic evaluation of 'Return to Country': A remote Australian initiative to address indigenous homelessness.
abstract: An increase in the number of Indigenous homeless persons in Cairns, Northern Australia, prompted the Queensland Police Service (QPS) to commence a pilot 'Return to Country' (R2C) program. The program was designed to assist homeless people who were voluntarily seeking to return to their home communities. This study assesses the costs of running the program and evaluates its net economic impact.
  
  
  
  Retrospective uncontrolled cost, cost-effectiveness and cost-offset analyses were undertaken from a societal perspective. All costs were expressed in 2014 AU$.
  
  
  
  The R2C program successfully assisted 140 participants to return home, reducing the prevalence of homelessness in the regional center by 9.6%. The total program cost was estimated as AU$ 135,831 or AU$ 970 per participant. The economic analysis indicated that R2C was value for money, potentially saving AU$ 2,714,460. Limitations of the study included retrospective data collection and no established alternative comparison group.
  
  
  
  R2C is a relatively simple, minimal cost program, which can be utilized by policy makers to offer one solution to homelessness. This economic evaluation informs the QPS of the effects of the R2C program in order to guide further program initiatives. The R2C model may be applied to assist temporarily stranded Indigenous people in other locations within Australia or internationally to return home. No funding was obtained for conducting this study.
authors.affiliation: School of Human Health and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, Cairns Square, Corner Abbott and Shields Streets, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia; The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. Electronic address: I.Kinchin@cqu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kinchin
authors.affiliation: The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. Electronic address: Susan.Jacups2@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacups
authors.affiliation: Cairns Police Beat, Queensland Police Service, 5 Sheridan Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. Electronic address: Hunter.GaryR@police.qld.gov.au.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia. Electronic address: Bernadette.Rogerson@my.jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rogerson
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003363:Cost Control / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000191:economics; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D011638:Public Housing / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Cost analysis; Cost-effectiveness; Cost-offset; Economic evaluation; Indigenous homelessness; Police; Threshold analysis; Value for money