A comparison of costs to the organization of alternative forms of care requires estimates for similar types of client. The degree of dependency is the main characteristic in which comparability is necessary with regard to services for the aged. This paper presents estimates of the costs incurred in providing residential care for clients of four degrees of incapacity for self-care – the capacity implicit in Bevan's residential hotel model of the old people's home, and three progressively more severe states of dependency. The estimates are for two cost concepts – average (unit) costs and marginal costs (the cost of caring for an additional person). The paper also estimates both long-run costs (costs that it is appropriate to take into account in decisions in which capital investment in new plant is being considered), and short-run costs (costs that it is appropriate to consider when the issue is the allocation of existing capacity between client groups). It also examines the consequences of the size of the home with regard to costs. Inter alia the paper shows:

(a) that the size of home beyond which costs do not fall with scale provides for as many as fifty places (equivalent to an average daily census of forty-six residents); and

(b) that, although the dependency components of costs are much smaller than the hotel components, dependency costs are large enough for it to be important to base comparisons of alternative forms of care on estimates of costs for clients which are comparable with respect to dependency.

The priority area approach to problems such as urban deprivation has recently been criticized because of its alleged ineffectiveness and because the majority of the deprived live outside the priority areas. This paper argues that these criticisms do not constitute an adequate appraisal of the area approach, as they ignore some other and equally important considerations, in particular the economic aspects of the approach. One is the possibility of achieving resource cost saving through area action (thus making it possible to help more deprived people from a given level of resources). Another is the possibility of achieving a higher rate of take-up of special assistance. The paper discusses those attributes of utility functions and production functions that are relevant to the appraisal of area policies, and provides a framework that would allow a complete evaluation of the economic aspects of an area policy.

This article is an attempt to create a general theoretical model or ‘scale’ for categorizing voluntary organizations chiefly concerned with social service provision. Consumer participation, which the author believes has positive and particular advantages in voluntary organizations, is taken as one element in the categorization. He discusses what participation may or should mean, and the reasons why it is so rarely found. Where it exists it tends to involve the participation of staff rather than ‘clients’, which may result in more discussion than action. The article also discusses how an organization's position on the ‘scale’ can change. Voluntary organizations which start out as small, highly-participating, self-help organizations tend to become more elitist and altruistic with success and growth. The author suggests that organizations with a higher degree of consumer participation may be more responsive to social change and its consequences, more flexible and even more cost-effective than more traditionally organized institutions and may also be better able to take advantage of the independence afforded only to voluntary organizations in an increasingly state-dominated society.

This study investigates the legal status and treatment of the youthful offender in Israel. Due to a legal provision, in the case of the youthful offender, the court is required to receive a pre-sentencing report from a probation officer; however, there is no institutionalized indication as to how or to what degree the judges should follow the report. Our findings reveal that both judges and probation officers adhere to high professional standards and make their decisions according to the specific case brought in front of them, and that they are not affected by social class or ethnic stereotypes. In spite of a considerable correspondence between the recommendations made by the probation officers and the decisions made by the judges, one cannot avoid noticing also some discrepancy. This is attributed to the strong therapeutic values which characterize the probation officers' training and which are less evident among the judges. The consequences of this discrepancy are analysed and discussed and a few steps to narrow the gap are suggested.