Comparative costs of Public Residential and Community Residential Facilities for the Mentally Retarded

This paper reports on the survey of costs of operating 16 group homes operated by five different agencies in Texas. The cost for basic services such as room, board, and rental of the home was quite similar for all of the homes. There was considerably more variation in administrative costs which included costs for programming. These costs are compared with per diem costs for residents in the state operated facilities. Based upon the data obtained, group homes appear to be at least as expensive to operate as traditional state facilities.