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Benefits & Cost Savings

Clinical Outcomes


  • MST is a well-validated treatment model (Kazdin & Weisz, 1998), with 15 published outcome studies (14 randomized, one quasi-experimental) completed (including six with violent and chronic juvenile offenders, three with substance abusing and dependent juvenile offenders, two with adolescent sexual offenders, one with youth presenting psychiatric emergencies, one with youth presenting serious emotional disturbance, one with maltreating families, and one with inner-city delinquents with chronically poorly controlled type I diabetes) and several others underway.
  • The studies with violent and chronic juvenile offenders showed that MST reduced long-term rates of rearrest by 25% to 70% in comparison with control groups.
  • A 14-year follow-up study of individuals (average age at follow-up = 28.2 years) who were involved in MST as youth had on average 59% fewer arrests, 68% fewer drug-related arrests, 57% fewer days in adult confinement, and 43% fewer days on adult probation.
  • Compared with control groups, MST studies have consistently demonstrated improved family relations and family functioning.
  • MST has reduced drug use in juvenile offenders in comparison with control groups.
  • Studies have shown that key youth outcomes (i.e., rearrest, out-of-home placement) are significantly associated with a therapist’s adherence to the MST principles (hence the emphasis on maintaining quality assurance).
  • A recent meta-analysis that included most of these studies (Curtis, Ronan, & Borduin, 2004) indicated that the average MST effect size for both arrests and days incarcerated was .55, with efficacy studies having stronger effects than effectiveness studies.

Cost Savings


  • Cost savings are achieved by targeting youths who are truly at imminent risk of out-of-home placement and then successfully preventing placement, while preserving community safety.
  • The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (1998, 2001, 2006) has concluded that MST is one of the most cost effective of a wide variety of treatments designed to reduce serious criminal activity by adolescents. In their 2001 report on the long-term impacts of approaches to lowering crime and total costs to taxpayers and crime victims, MST was shown to have an average net taxpayer benefit of $ 31,661 to $131,918 per youth served in terms of decreased justice system and victim costs.



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