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With its headquarters campus in Santa Monica, the Los Angeles area is understandably the focal point of significant RAND interest. Research on Los Angeles and its surrounding communities spans a wide analytical range, from policing, airport and harbor security, and traffic congestion to education, child care, health, and demographic issues.

Commentary

L.A. Has the Nation's Highest Unemployment. For Some Groups, It's Even Worse Than That.

Aug 6, 2020

Los Angeles and its neighboring counties are among the areas hardest hit by the COVID-19 recession. The shockingly high average unemployment rates only tell part of the story, however. For the poor and some racial and ethnic groups, the jobs picture is far worse.
Commentary

Elevating Equity in Los Angeles Juvenile and Criminal Justice Reform

Aug 12, 2020

At age 13, Black children are placed in juvenile detention at nearly 3.5 times the rate of white children. By age 17, that ratio increases to 4.5 to 1. And the trend continues into adulthood. Without ongoing attention and deliberate policies and programs, injustices are likely to persist.

Explore Los Angeles

Journal Article

Data-driven Decision Support Tools for Assessing the Vulnerability of Community Water Systems to Groundwater Contamination in Los Angeles County

This research aims to develop an easy to deploy, data-driven method to identify community water systems that are vulnerable to drinking water quality degradation from groundwater contamination.

Jul 28, 2021
Multimedia

Meeting the Needs of the Mental Health Population in the LA County Jail System

Behavioral scientist Stephanie Holliday discusses her study that aimed to estimate the size of the mental health population in the Los Angeles County jail system that might be appropriate for diversion to community-based treatment rather than remaining and receiving treatments while incarcerated.

Jul 26, 2021
Commentary

Investing in Social Change: Lessons Learned from Foundation-Funded Criminal Justice Research

Investing in policy-focused research can be among the ways foundations catalyze change. Impactful work may involve strong collaborations across funders, researchers, and community partners. And it may require flexibility in design and execution as well as a commitment to getting the findings into the hands of decisionmakers who can use the findings to create change.

Jul 20, 2021
Report

Evaluation of Los Angeles County's COVID-19 Mental Health Campaign

RAND evaluators found that a Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health campaign promoting awareness of county resources successfully reached residents, fostered a feeling of support among those it reached, and conveyed how to seek help.

May 4, 2021
Journal Article

A Qualitative Evaluation of Housing for Health in Los Angeles County

This study uses data from 14 qualitative interviews with senior leaders and nine focus groups with tenants and program staff to understand tenant experiences with permanent supportive housing programs, as they relate to care coordination.

Apr 13, 2021
Journal Article

When Is a Match Sufficient? A Score-based Balance Metric for the Synthetic Control Method

In this study, we present metrics to help analysts determine whether they have a good enough match to conduct causal inference using synthetic control method.

Feb 2, 2021
Report

The Quality Start Los Angeles Developmental Evaluation: Research Findings and Lessons Learned

RAND researchers conducted a developmental evaluation of Quality Start Los Angeles, the voluntary quality rating and improvement system for early learning providers in Los Angeles County.

Feb 1, 2021
Journal Article

Longitudinal Assessment of Changes in Mental and Sexual Health Outcomes Due to COVID-19 Among Latinx SMM and TGW

This study provides longitudinal information on how COVID-19 is impacting the mental and sexual health of Latinx SMM and TGW across Los Angeles County.

Jan 8, 2021
Journal Article

Approaches to Analyzing the Vulnerability of Community Water Systems to Groundwater Contamination in Los Angeles County

This paper details the objectives, process and lessons learned from a workshop-based research project that examined the spatial extent of groundwater contamination in Los Angeles County's groundwater basins.

Dec 22, 2020
Report

Establishing A Research-Practice Partnership To Improve Early Care and Education Supports Within Quality Start Los Angeles: Partnership Insights and Lessons Learned

This report describes a developmental evaluation of Quality Start Los Angeles, a quality rating and improvement system, and provides recommendations for research-practice partnerships looking to achieve evidence-based decisionmaking.

Dec 17, 2020
Blog

Restoring Public Trust, COVID-19 and Thanksgiving, Vaccinating Teachers: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how the Biden-Harris administration can restore public trust, the risk of Thanksgiving becoming a super-spreader event, why teachers should be among the first to get a COVID19 vaccination, and more.

Nov 25, 2020
Journal Article

Food Insecurity, Participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Degree to Which Patients Anticipate Help from Clinics to Find Food in Los Angeles County

Healthcare clinics are uniquely positioned to screen for food insecurity and refer patients to food resources. This is an exploratory analysis informing low-income clinics' efforts to intervene on food insecurity in their patient population.

Nov 25, 2020
Commentary

Unaccompanied Women Become an Official Homeless Subpopulation in LA County

Unaccompanied homeless women are more likely than other subgroups to be chronically homeless, to have mental illness, and to have work limitations. Los Angeles County is now recognizing these women as a subgroup in the official homeless count. An assessment will also be conducted to identify this group's unique needs.

Nov 23, 2020
Journal Article

How to Take a Systems Approach to Effect Change in Policing: A Recent Presentation to the LA Police Commission Addressed How to Evolve the Police Academies of Today to Deliver the Officers of Tomorrow

This presentation advocates a systems approach to change, and significant changes to LAPD's recruit academy to enhance critical applied skills.

Nov 17, 2020
Commentary

Access to Mobile Technology Could Help with Homelessness

The vast majority of people experiencing homelessness have cell phones, which often serve as their lifelines. Providing technological supports, such as Wi-Fi access and opportunities to charge devices, could result in better access to social services and, ultimately, better quality of life and outcomes.

Sep 16, 2020
Report

Data Use in Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: Lessons Learned from Quality Start Los Angeles

Through an evaluation of Quality Start Los Angeles, a quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) that supports early learning providers, the authors identified lessons learned that could benefit other QRISs as they create or expand data systems.

Sep 9, 2020
Blog

Voting in a Pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service, Defunding the Police: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Americans' views about voting in the age of COVID-19, what makes the U.S. Postal Service so essential, why some in law enforcement may be open to “defunding the police,” and more.

Aug 28, 2020
Commentary

Industry Mix in L.A. Area Helps Explain Recent Record Unemployment Rates

The Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area reported more than 270,000 job cuts between March and early August. Considering which industries have cut jobs may provide a window into the area's unique labor market and help explain how the area currently has among the highest unemployment in the nation.

Aug 25, 2020
Report

How Social Service Providers in L.A. County Are Responding to COVID-19

Social service providers have adapted quickly to ensure continuity of care for their clients during the pandemic. Obstacles have included a lack of technology access among clients, reductions in revenue and workforce, difficulties having clients shelter in place, and other stressors on staff.

Aug 24, 2020
Blog

L.A.'s High Unemployment, RAND's New Research Center, Twitter: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on unemployment in the Los Angeles area, the new RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy, food consumption in the UK, and more.

Aug 14, 2020

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