The Life Course Dataset provides data from Sonoma County to facilitate research on complex, cross-domain policy issues, including homelessness.
Background
The Life Course data includes interactions between Sonoma County county agencies and county residents, aged 18 and over. This data primarily includes records on treatments for behavioral health needs, enrollments in social safety net programs like food stamps, stays in housing for the homeless, and interactions with the criminal justice system. The data covers July 2013 to July 2018 and will facilitate research on complex, cross-domain issues such as poverty, homelessness, and mental illness, and inform more comprehensive policy solutions. The Life Course dataset is one of the datasets of linked administrative microdata from California state and local government sources that is part of our Policy Evaluation and Research Linkage Initiative (PERLI), a four-year project funded by the National Science Foundation.
Visit the Life Course Dataset webpage to learn more about the data and the application process.