California Policy Lab June 2022 Newsletter

Report on housing outcomes and serious mental illness prevalence

A new report sheds light on the mental health and housing outcomes of more than 45,000 L.A. residents who were unsheltered and who received street outreach services. Janey Rountree, a co-author, shared how CPL linked together data to create the estimates during a media call hosted by L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, along with Dr. Jonathan Sherin, Director of L.A. County Department of Mental Health. Report

New staff at UCLA and Berkeley sites

Welcome to our colleagues, we’re thrilled you’re part of the team!

UC students begin data-focused research projects

Ten students from around California are joining CPL this summer as part of our Undergraduate Summer Institute. They will be learning new data analysis skills and working on research projects including college student access to CalFresh, homelessness in California, and household debt and credit use.

June 30th deadline for Seed grants, Graduate Fellowships, and Life Course Dataset

CPL provides these opportunities and others to support policy-relevant research.

1) Seed Grants: Open to UC students and faculty focused on health, homelessness, and consumer finance research.

2) Graduate Fellowships: Open to UC graduate students using California administrative data or other CPL datasets.

3) Life Course Dataset: Includes data on Sonoma County agency interactions with residents aged 18 and over.

Job openings at CPL

The California Policy Lab is growing — please share with your networks and help us find great talent!

1) Data Analyst, UC Berkeley

2) Research Manager, Employment and Labor issues, UCLA

Job openings elsewhere

Branch Chief, Research and Data Insights Branch, California Department of Social Services (final filing date is June 18, 2022)

A computer model predicts who will become homeless in L.A. Then these workers step in

Article shows how the Homeless Prevention Unit pilot is helping vulnerable LA residents who are at the highest risk of homelessness. CPL’s predictive model helps social workers from the LA County Dept. of Health Services to connect these LA residents with financial assistance, supports, and more.

Child Tax Credit: Tool opens for poorer families to claim tax benefits without filing a full return

Article cites CPL’s 2021 policy brief identifying which California families were most at risk for missing out on the Child Tax Credit.

Silicon Valley braces for tech pullback after a decade of decadence

Till von Wachter explains how tech start-ups are a leading indicator for the economy and how this sector is more sensitive to interest rate changes.

KPCC segment on new CPL research on homelessness in LA

Segment covers CPL’s recent report on housing outcomes and serious mental illness among LA residents who received street outreach services. Janey Rountree explains that housing people with psychotic spectrum disorder can have a stabilizing impact on treatment and employment prospects.

Counties Pledge to Break the Cycle Between Jail and Homelessness

Article cites CPL’s 2019 analysis comparing health conditions among people experiencing unsheltered homelessness vs. sheltered homelessness.