TY - JOUR
T1 - The Costs of Experience Corps® in Public Schools
AU - Frick, Kevin D.
AU - McGill, Sylvia
AU - Tan, Erwin J.
AU - Rebok, George W.
AU - Carson, Michelle C.
AU - Tanner, Elizabeth K.
AU - Fried, Linda P.
N1 - Funding Information:
To support the costs of operating the program in the Baltimore City Public School System, the Greater Homewood Community Corporation receives funding from a variety of sources including local foundations, AmeriCorps (a national program in which volunteers receive stipends to reimburse out-of-pocket costs), and the Baltimore City Public School System. Each funder requires that GHCC provide information on how funds were spent. The tracking data used by GHCC to create summary reports were used as data for this project. In addition to the sources mentioned above, funding from the National Institute on Aging for the randomized controlled trial is supporting the cost of recruiting volunteers. Because the costs of recruitment for a randomized controlled trial are likely to be substantially different from the costs of recruitment for a purely volunteer activity, we do not include the costs of recruitment in our analysis.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Objective: To describe the annual operational costs of a mature Experience Corps® program in elementary schools in the Baltimore City Public School System. Methods: Systematic records of expenditures kept by the community partner, Greater Homewood Community Corporation, to be reported to funders were made available for analysis. Expenditures were aggregated to the level of fiscal year and grouped in categories in consultation with the community partner. Results: Expenditures to provide reimbursement to volunteers and to administer this complex volunteer program in an environment in which the school district needed additional management resources for such a program dominate the total expenditures. In the 2008 fiscal year, the program provided 158,305 hours of older adult volunteer service to public elementary schools in Baltimore City and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.79; in the 2009 fiscal year the program provided 157,238 hours of older adult volunteer service and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.60. This suggests consistency and may also suggest that the program is becoming more efficient over time. Conclusion: The costs presented represent the costs of running a mature program after an initial investment has been made. These costs would need to be compared with the short-term and long-term benefits to the older adult volunteers, the school children, other school personnel, and the schools' and volunteers' communities to perform a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis to inform public policy.
AB - Objective: To describe the annual operational costs of a mature Experience Corps® program in elementary schools in the Baltimore City Public School System. Methods: Systematic records of expenditures kept by the community partner, Greater Homewood Community Corporation, to be reported to funders were made available for analysis. Expenditures were aggregated to the level of fiscal year and grouped in categories in consultation with the community partner. Results: Expenditures to provide reimbursement to volunteers and to administer this complex volunteer program in an environment in which the school district needed additional management resources for such a program dominate the total expenditures. In the 2008 fiscal year, the program provided 158,305 hours of older adult volunteer service to public elementary schools in Baltimore City and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.79; in the 2009 fiscal year the program provided 157,238 hours of older adult volunteer service and the cost per volunteer hour was $9.60. This suggests consistency and may also suggest that the program is becoming more efficient over time. Conclusion: The costs presented represent the costs of running a mature program after an initial investment has been made. These costs would need to be compared with the short-term and long-term benefits to the older adult volunteers, the school children, other school personnel, and the schools' and volunteers' communities to perform a comprehensive benefit-cost analysis to inform public policy.
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U2 - 10.1080/03601277.2011.595311
DO - 10.1080/03601277.2011.595311
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84861904096
SN - 0360-1277
VL - 38
SP - 552
EP - 562
JO - Educational Gerontology
JF - Educational Gerontology
IS - 8
ER -