5.0 Cost/Benefit Analysis of Bridging the Gap

5.1 How we calculate the cost/benefit analyses

Determining the costs and the benefits of programs and services can be approached from many different ways and calculated using different formulae and variables. For the purposes of the formative evaluation of the pan-provincial Bridging the Gap program, six different perspectives will be taken:

• the client,
• the employment partner,
• the project sponsor,
• the Income support System,
• the College of the North Atlantic, and
• the community

Each will be calculated in a different way. The intended result is to be as inclusive as possible of both the costs and the benefits of Bridging the Gap.

5.2 To the Client

For all of the clients, the benefits of participating in Bridging the Gap far outweighed the costs. Some of their comments included:

I'm going to try my best to get a job at the end of this program. And then I'll work it out from there. I'd like to get a job here and then I don't have to go away and work.

If I were working here, I'd have peace of mind. It is an excellent opportunity to get involved in the community. Chance to be home and working. I'm not going to frig up a good thing (excuse me for swearing). Getting up in the morning I feel like I have a new life.