Universally Recommended Vaccinations: Monetary Sanctions
Monetary sanction policies are government requirements that link continuing assistance to families to maintenance of up-to-date vaccination status of the client. Sanction policies can be established by legislative action or agency dictate. Actual penalties are applied only after families are given one or more warnings and fail to produce documentation of status or demonstration of progress. Sanctions may range from penalties on the amount of assistance to loss of benefits.
Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings
The Community Preventive Services Task Force finds insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of monetary sanction policies to increase vaccination rates in children of families on government assistance. The Task Force finding is based on the small number of studies; the differences in the type of sanction policies evaluated; the inconsistent results on vaccination rates; and limited information on the potential harms of these policies.
Task Force Finding & Rationale Statement
The Task Force recommendation was made in February 2011. It is based on evidence from a previously completed review of Client and Family Incentives (search period 1980-1997) and an updated review (search period 1997-2009). Updates of reviews are conducted to incorporate more recent evidence.
These reviews were conducted on behalf of the Task Force by a team of specialists in systematic review methods, and in research, practice and policy related to vaccinations to prevent diseases. Please subscribe 
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Learn more about the original review and Task Force finding in the Vaccinations to Prevent Diseases section of our publications page.
Publications
The findings and results of this systematic review have not been published. Read other Community Guide publications about Vaccinations to Prevent Diseases in our library, including articles about the previous review. You may also subscribe to be notified as new materials on this topic become available.
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions on this page are those of the Community Preventive Services Task Force and do not necessarily represent those of CDC.
Sample Citation
The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Sample citation: Guide to Community Preventive Services. Universally recommended vaccinations: monetary sanctions (abbreviated). www.thecommunityguide.org/vaccines/universally/MonetarySanctions.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.
Review Completed: February 2011
- Page last reviewed: May 11, 2011
- Page last updated: December 27, 2011
- Content source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services
