In early 2021, CPL launched the inaugural Community Advisory Board (CAB) that was composed of community stakeholders, including: people with lived expertise of homelessness, people who utilized prevention programs, service providers who administer prevention programs and tools, program managers who supervise program implementation, and professionals who work within other systems that impact homelessness programs and services. Members served a two-year term and attended quarterly meetings where they were asked to give their feedback on our research projects.
CAB input is an essential part of our research process and the success of our research is largely dependent upon active participation from community members. By including these voices in every stage of the research process, we ensure that our research questions are timely and address the most urgent problems. In addition, we ensure that our findings and recommendations are relevant and can be implemented.
Over the course of their two-year term, CAB members provided feedback at multiple stages of the research process including but not limited to research design, interpretation of data and findings, as well as the dissemination of work products.
The CAB played a critical role in advising on these projects:
- The Homelessness Prevention Unit: A Proactive Approach to Preventing Homelessness in Los Angeles County
- Preventing Homelessness: Evidence-Based Methods to Screen Adults and Families at Risk of Homelessness in Los Angeles
- Inequity in the Permanent Supportive Housing System in Los Angeles: Scale, Scope and Reasons for Black Residents’ Returns to Homelessness
- Serious Mental Illness among People who are Unsheltered in Los Angeles
- Do Time-Limited Subsidy Programs Reduce Homelessness for Single Adults?
2024-2026 Cohort
Shalonda Battee, Community Outreach Mental Health Specialist for Mental Health of America Los Angeles and a Certified Peer Support Specialist at Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
Hector Carranza, Lead Outreach Case Manager at Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Tajwanna Dixon, Program Manager at Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
TKeyah (Kia) Dupclay, Founder and Executive Director of Free 2 Dream Big and Youth Systems Analyst at the CEOs Office of LA County
Tiffany Duvernay- Smith, Advisory Board Coordinator at Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
Brittney (Bri) Frazier, Executive Director at N.O.A.H’s Foundation Inc.
Alyssa Gallo, Administrative Post-Production Coordinator at Universal Pictures
Eric Lee Gray, SO, HCA, DSP II, FFC®, Housing Specialist / Financial Coach at Project 180
Anthony Lee Hill, Senior Pastor at South-Hill Family Community Church of Los Angeles
Milagros Lopez, Senior Manager for Access at Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Theodore Patton, Advocate and Consultant at Tenant Knowledge Exchange
Shawn E Pleasants, Independent Homeless Advocate and an HIV Research Advocate at Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Lived Experience Advisory Board and University of California at Los Angeles/Charles Drew University Center for AIDS Research Community Advisory Board
Lena Silver, Director of Policy & Administrative Advocacy at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County
Latonius (Toni) White, Outreach Coordinator at Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Toni White, Board Member at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and Job Development Specialist/Consultant at Phoenix House CA
Nathaniel Williams, Senior Manager of Program Evaluation and Data Quality at Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
2021-2023 Inaugural Cohort
Tiffany Duvernay- Smith, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
Mark Faucette, The Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership
Alyssa Gallo, Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Anthony Lee Hill, The Corporation for Supportive Housing Speak Up! Program
Ben Kay, Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Susan Kolkowicz, Downtown Women’s Center
Stephany Martinez, Los Angeles Family Housing
Jeanne Nishimoto, UCLA Veterans Legal Clinic
Theodore Patton, Tenant Knowledge Exchange
Edgar Pineda, Para los Niños
Toni White, Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Nathaniel Williams, Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System
Photos of the CAB in Action
On January 23, 2024, CPL’s 2021-2023 Homelessness Prevention Community Advisory Board celebrated two years of sharing their perspectives and providing input on CPL’s research on homelessness prevention.
On January 23, 2024, CPL’s 2021-2023 Homelessness Prevention Community Advisory Board celebrated two years of sharing their perspectives and providing input on CPL’s research on homelessness prevention.
This photo shows CPL’s 2021-2023 Homelessness Prevention Community Advisory Board participating in a data walk featuring CPL’s findings from the unsheltered report on June 16, 2022. The CAB reviewed the findings and provided feedback on how to interpret them and also provided thoughts on future research to conduct to support the unsheltered population.
On November 28, 2022, CPL’s 2021-2023 Homelessness Prevention Community Advisory Board discussed the historical and new processes for people enrolling into LA’s Coordinated Entry System. Their input helped inform CPL’s program evaluations.