Family caregivers participating in support and education groups had lower institutionalization rates among their care receivers than did caregivers who enrolled but did not participate (3.8% as compared to 8.6% ,respectively). When baseline differences were controlled, the implied treatment effect was to reduce the enrollment group institutionalization rate from 17.2% to 5.2%. These differences were statistically significant at the .1 and .05 levels, respectively. Savings from deterred nursing home utilization more than offset program costs.