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Los Angeles

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.

Essay

A Novel Approach to Helping People Returning from Prison

Many services try to address the needs of individuals returning from prison, but they're often designed without much input from the very people who need the services. A group of county agencies, service providers, and former prisoners together identified ways to improve reentry services in Los Angeles County.

Oct 30, 2019
Dissertation

Dissertation

Three Essays on Minority and Immigrant Outcomes in a New Era of Immigration Enforcement: Evidence from Los Angeles

Seeks to disentangle the structural factors that affect levels of economic and social integration of minority and immigrant populations.

Sep 13, 2019
Report

Report

Los Angeles County Office of Diversion and Reentry's Supportive Housing Program: A Study of Participants' Housing Stability and New Felony Convictions

Los Angeles County is home to the largest jail system in the world and an acute homelessness problem. This report presents generally favorable early interim findings about an initiative that provides housing coupled with case management.

Jul 25, 2019
Report

Results of the Co-Design of Services for Health and Reentry (CO-SHARE) Study

Individuals returning to the community from jail often face difficulties accessing services that improve reentry and reduce recidivism. RAND reviewed a pilot study in Los Angeles County, the Co-Design of Services for Health and Reentry (CO-SHARE), that encouraged returning individuals and service providers to collaborate on improving health and reentry services.

Jul 24, 2019
News Release

Young Adults Who Live Near Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Use Marijuana More Often, Have More-Positive Views

Young adults who live in neighborhoods with more medical marijuana dispensaries use marijuana more frequently than their peers and have more-positive views about the drug. The associations were strongest among young adults who lived near dispensaries that had storefront signs.

Jun 17, 2019
Dissertation

Dissertation

The Criminal Justice System and More Lenient Drug Policy: Three Case Studies on California's Changes to How Its Criminal Justice System Addresses Drug Use

Explores California's recent liberal policies, mostly associated to drug-related crimes, to provide implications for future policymaking.

Apr 15, 2019
Commentary

How to Ensure Quality Drinking Water Service for All? One Option Is Fewer Utilities.

California's Human Right to Water Bill declares that “every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water.” One clear barrier to reaching this target is the sheer number of small water utilities that pose service sustainability and public health risks to their customers.

Mar 26, 2019
Commentary

How Water Systems Can Learn From Smart Electric Grids

As drought and population growth place increasing pressure on water supply, the need to save and efficiently manage Southern California's water resources becomes increasingly critical. A single information and communication technology platform could go a long way toward moving water utilities from reactive to proactive maintenance practices.

Mar 22, 2019
Commentary

Increasing Groundwater Reliance in L.A. County Means Dealing with Extensive Contamination

As the Los Angeles region increases its reliance on groundwater sources to become more resilient in the face of drought and to reduce demand for imported water sources, advances in the information available on groundwater quality and contamination could help community water systems avoid health hazards and better ensure a safe drinking water supply.

Mar 12, 2019
Commentary

Is Los Angeles County Successfully Creating a Youth Movement Around Mental Health Issues?

A new community engagement campaign called WhyWeRise seeks to increase awareness of mental health access as a civil rights issue and increase civic engagement. The campaign reached its target audience—people aged 14 to 24—and showed signs of changing attitudes toward mental illness.

Dec 6, 2018
News Release

News Release

Youth-Oriented Mental Health Campaign Shows Evidence of Success

A community engagement campaign launched by Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to address mental health barriers had an impressive reach with the younger audience it targeted and showed signs of changing attitudes.

Nov 14, 2018
Research Brief

Evaluating Los Angeles County's Mental Health Community Engagement Campaign

The WeRise/WhyWeRise campaign targeted young people to encourage them to engage with mental health issues and create a movement to lower barriers to mental health access. People exposed to the campaign reported more-supportive attitudes toward people with mental illness and greater mobilization toward action around mental health issues.

Nov 14, 2018
Report

Evaluation of Los Angeles County's Mental Health Community Engagement Campaign

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health conducted a community engagement campaign to increase awareness of mental health access as a civil rights issue and to increase civic engagement. Youths who took part showed increased supportive and understanding attitudes toward mental illness, and empowerment and mobilization toward activism around mental health issues.

Nov 14, 2018
Research Brief

Los Angeles County's Mental Health Full Service Partnerships Yield Cost Savings

RAND estimated government spending and cost savings associated with outcomes targeted by Full Service Partnership programs in Los Angeles County: homelessness, criminal justice detention, health care (inpatient and outpatient), and employment.

Oct 29, 2018
Report

Evaluating Cost Savings Associated with Los Angeles County's Mental Health Full Service Partnerships

This report estimates government spending and cost savings associated with outcomes targeted by Full Service Partnership programs in Los Angeles County: homelessness, criminal justice detention, health care (inpatient and outpatient), and employment.

Oct 29, 2018
Multimedia

Prevention Outcomes Monitoring: Data Collection for Prevention Program Providers Webinar

Webinar of training guidance for data collectors and data entry personnel who will be using surveys to monitor prevention program outcomes.

Oct 22, 2018
Tool

Monitoring Prevention Mental Health Programs: Supporting California Counties to Meet Statewide Reporting Requirements

In this document, RAND researchers describe how they developed a tool to help the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health comply with regulations to report on outcomes for prevention mental health programs.

Sep 28, 2018
Report

Report

Local Evaluation Report for Los Angeles County's Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction (MIOCR) Program

RAND researchers assessed a Los Angeles County program to improve outcomes for individuals suffering from mental health disorders who are returning to the community after incarceration.

Sep 7, 2018
Essay

Supportive Housing Reduces Homelessness—and Lowers Health Care Costs by Millions

Los Angeles County has moved some of its most chronically homeless and vulnerable residents into permanent housing. Providing them with social services and health care has dramatically reduced their use of emergency rooms and other services, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

Jun 27, 2018
Commentary

Why Children Need to Be Shielded from Marijuana Ads

By design, advertising is aimed at persuading us to want something. In the case of marijuana, that something is definitely not good for teenagers.

Jun 18, 2018

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