Search

apidly changing wildfire regimes across the Western United States have driven more frequent and severe wildfires, resulting in wide-ranging societal threats from wildfires and wildfire-generated smoke. However, common measures of fire severity focus on what is burned, disregarding the societal impacts of smoke generated from each fire. We combine satellite-derived fire scars, air parcel trajectories from individual fires, and predicted smoke PM2.5 to link source fires to resulting smoke PM2.5 and health impacts experienced by populations in the contiguous United States from April 2006 to 2020. We quantify fire-specific accumulated smoke exposure based on the cumulative population exposed to smoke PM2.5 over the duration of a fire and estimate excess asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits as a result of this exposure. We find that excess asthma visits attributable to each fire are only moderately correlated with common measures of wildfire severity, including burned area, structures destroyed, and suppression cost. Additionally, while recent California fires contributed nearly half of the country’s smoke-related excess asthma ED visits during our study period, the most severe individual fire was the 2007 Bugaboo fire in the Southeast. We estimate that a majority of smoke PM2.5 comes from sources outside the local jurisdictions where the smoke is experienced, with 87% coming from fires in other counties and 60% from fires in other states. Our approach could enable broad-scale assessment of whether specific fire characteristics affect smoke toxicity or impact, inform cost-effectiveness assessments for allocation of suppression resources, and help clarify the growing transboundary nature of local air quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal school finance policy over the past 30 years has focused on resource allocation within school districts. Regulations require equal staffing across schools, particularly Title I schools, which are designated based on the percent of low-income students enrolled. The requirement to equalize staffing levels creates a loophole where, even with equal staffing levels, differences in staff experience and salary levels across schools lead to differences in actual spending across schools. In response, recent regulatory reforms have shifted from an emphasis on equal staffing to an emphasis on equal spending. Under the federal comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) system, states are required to periodically review within-district spending gaps for any district with a significant number of identified schools. We analyze spending gaps within districts in California and assess the extent to which the CSI system targets districts with inequitable spending patterns. We find that racial and income-based spending gaps across-schools are not substantially different for districts with CSI schools and districts with no CSI schools. Importantly, many districts with large spending gaps are not included in the policy and thus do not face federal regulations to measure and address resource disparities across schools. We discuss implications for school finance research and policy moving forward, particularly as schools respond to the global pandemic and reopening process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the mixed distribution of buildings and vegetation, wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas are characterized by complex fuel distributions and geographical environments. The behavior of wildfires occurring in the WUI often leads to severe hazards and significant damage to man-made structures. Therefore, WUI areas warrant more attention during the wildfire season. Due to the ever-changing dynamic nature of California's population and housing, the update frequency and resolution of WUI maps that are currently used can no longer meet the needs and challenges of wildfire management and resource allocation for suppression and mitigation efforts. Recent developments in remote sensing technology and data analysis algorithms pose new opportunities for improving WUI mapping methods. WUI areas in California were directly mapped using building footprints extracted from remote sensing data by Microsoft along with the fuel vegetation cover from the LANDFIRE dataset in this study. To accommodate the new type of datasets, we developed a threshold criteria for mapping WUI based on statistical analysis, as opposed to using more ad-hoc criteria as used in previous mapping approaches. This method removes the reliance on census data in WUI mapping, and does not require the calculation of housing density. Moreover, this approach designates the adjacent areas of each building with large and dense parcels of vegetation as WUI, which can not only refine the scope and resolution of the WUI areas to individual buildings, but also avoids zoning issues and uncertainties in housing density calculation. Besides, the new method has the capability of updating the WUI map in real-time according to the operational needs. Therefore, this method is suitable for local governments to map local WUI areas, as well as formulating detailed wildfire emergency plans, evacuation routes, and management measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A severe outbreak of wildfire across the US Pacific Coast during August 2020 led to persistent fire activity through the end of summer. In late September, Fire Weather Outlooks predicted higher than usual fire activity into the winter in parts of California, with concomitant elevated fire danger in the Southeastern US. To help inform the regional and national allocation of firefighting personnel and equipment, we developed visualizations of resource use during recent late season, high-demand analogs. Our visualizations provided an overview of the crew, engine, dozer, aerial resource, and incident management team usage by geographic area. While these visualizations afforded information that managers needed to support their decisions regarding resource allocation, they also revealed a potentially significant gap between resource demand and late-season availability that is only likely to increase over time due to lengthening fire seasons. This gap highlights the need for the increased assessment of suppression resource acquisition and allocation systems that, to date, have been poorly studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Channel allocation has a direct and profound impact on the performance of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks. Considering the dynamic nature of vehicular environments, it is appealing to devise a blended strategy to perform effective resource sharing. In this paper, we exploit deep learning techniques predict vehicles’ mobility patterns. Then we propose an architecture consisting of centralized decision making and distributed channel allocation to maximize the spectrum efficiency of all vehicles involved. To achieve this, we leverage two deep reinforcement learning techniques, namely deep Q-network (DQN) and advantage actor-critic (A2C) techniques. In addition, given the time varying nature of the user mobility, we further incorporate the long short-term memory (LSTM) into DQN and A2C techniques. The combined system tracks user mobility, varying demands and channel conditions and adapt resource allocation dynamically. We verify the performance of the proposed methods through extensive simulations and prove the effectiveness of the proposed LSTM-DQN and LSTM-A2C algorithms using real data obtained from California state transportation department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Covid‐19 pandemic, the University of California convened the University of California Critical Care Bioethics Working Group, a team of twenty individuals tasked with developing a set of triage procedures. This article highlights several crucial components of the UC procedures and describes the reasoning behind them. The recommendations and the reasoning in the UC protocol are distinctive because of the emphasis the working group placed on grounding its decisions on the public's preferences for triage protocols. To highlight the distinctiveness of the recommendations and reasoning, this article contrasts the UC procedures with the triage procedures known as the "Pittsburgh framework." Among the specific topics discussed are age discrimination, disability discrimination, the prioritization of critical workers for scarce resources, and triage priority for pregnant patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent emergency department (ED) use often serves as a marker for poor access to non-ED ambulatory care. Policy makers and providers hoped that by expanding coverage, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would curtail frequent ED use. We used data from California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development to compare the characteristics of frequent ED users among nonelderly adults in California before and after implementation of several major coverage expansion provisions in the ACA. Frequent users--patients with four or more annual ED visits--accounted for 7.9 percent of ED patients before and 8.5 percent after those provisions were implemented, and they were responsible for 30.7 percent of all visits before and 31.6 percent after. However, after controlling for patient-level characteristics, we found that the odds of being a frequent ED user were significantly lower post ACA for Medicaid-insured patients. Uninsured patients were also less likely to be frequent users post ACA, while privately insured patients experienced little change. The largest predictors of frequent ED use included having a diagnosis of a mental health condition or a substance use disorder. Interventions to address frequent ED use must involve Medicaid managed care plans, given that more than two-thirds of frequent ED users post ACA have Medicaid as their primary coverage source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To explore how older adults in the community with a limited life expectancy make healthcare decisions and the processes used when they are not in an acute crisis. Design Grounded theory. Setting Medical programs and geriatrics clinics at the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Participants Community-dwelling adults aged 67 to 98 with a life expectancy of less than 1 year (N = 20). Measurements In-depth semistructured interviews in participants' homes. Constant comparative analysis was used to develop codes and identify themes. Results Participants generally delegated decisions to others, expressing their wishes by describing desired end-of-life outcomes and highlighting meaningful aspects of their lives. They did this in the belief that the delegate would make appropriate decisions on their behalf. In this way, participants were able to achieve a sense of control without being in control of decisions. Four themes emerged from the analysis that reflect the various approaches participants used to articulate their goals and maintain a sense of control: direct communication, third-party analogies, adaptive denial, and engaged avoidance. Conclusion These findings challenge the prevailing view of personal autonomy. These older adults suggest a path to decision-making that focuses on priorities and goals, allowing them to take a more-passive approach to decision-making while still maintaining a sense of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk and prevalence of food insecurity and use of food security resources are important but incompletely understood factors in immigrant health. Key informant interviews and a survey (N = 809) of housing units were conducted in a San Diego, California neighborhood with a high proportion of immigrant and low income families. The difference in food insecurity between immigrant and non-immigrant households was non-significant (20.1 vs. 15.7 %, p = n.s.), though immigrant families were more likely to use food security resources such as SNAP (32.7 vs. 22.9 %, p < .01) and food pantries (28.2 vs. 19.7 %, p < .001). Among immigrants, neither national origin nor years in the United States predicted food insecurity or use of most food security resources. In immigrant families, food insecurity often remains a challenge long after immigration, suggesting a potentially increasing need for food security resources as immigration into the United States continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments prioritize spending on various types and levels of public services. Although scholars have shown that citizen preferences and institutional factors, such as economic, political, and legal arrangements, play a role in resource allocation, scholars have not systematically examined the impact of local elected officials’ own ideological preferences on service prioritization. A better understanding of the impact of personal ideology on local government resource allocation is needed as this provision of funds has implications for democratic governance and responsiveness. We develop and use a novel measure of local elected official ideology using a 2011 survey of California local elected officials to test the hypothesis that local decision-maker ideology affects attitudes on funding-specific service categories. We find evidence that local elected officials’ attitudes toward service reductions are associated with both their own individual ideology, measured on the conservative–liberal spectrum, and the ideology of their constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The evaluation aims to assess emergency preparedness (EP) among Native American tribes in California to inform future development of priorities and strategies for improvement. The analysis explores funding barriers and gaps in resource availability. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to explore four aspects of EP: 1) perceptions of preparedness; 2) funding mechanisms; 3) resource availability; and 4) plans for future preparedness efforts. The survey was conducted online, by telephone, fax, or mail. Analysis includes National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) compliance, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approval of disaster mitigation plans. Results and Discussion: Findings represent 40% of the federally-recognized California tribes. Participants included: tribal chairpersons and administrators, emergency services managers, fire chiefs, police chiefs, and environmental directors. Results indicated low awareness of funding regulations and instructional opportunities yet high interest; high dependency on external EP response resources; and needed improvements in community involvement. Conclusion: Partnerships with local emergency preparedness and academic organizations and improved communication are recommended to bridge gaps in resources and awareness. This evaluation provides one of the first systematic assessments of EP achievements and gaps among Native American tribes in California. Future studies are needed to explore these preliminary findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is interest in stock enhancement to support fisheries for California halibut Paralichthys californicus , a regionally important yet depleted species in the Southern California Bight (SCB), U.S. A quantitative model was developed to assess the cost of increasing harvestable California halibut in the SCB via releases of cultured juveniles. Reduced post-release survival of cultured juveniles was incorporated into the model, as was sex-specific lifetime survival, growth, and maturity. Simulations examined how adult California halibut population metrics were influenced by key release-strategy variables (i.e., size, number, survival, and sex ratio of released juveniles). A target increase in abundance of harvestable (≥ 559 mm total length; TL) California halibut by 5% in the entire SCB could likely be achieved by releasing large numbers (0.1–1.6 million per year) of larger-sized juveniles (40–200 mm TL). However, this was strongly mediated by their survival and sex ratio; fewer and smaller juveniles were required when releases comprised better surviving and / or more female individuals. Depending on the survival and sex ratio of released juveniles, increasing harvestable abundance in the SCB to achieve this 5% target was estimated to cost US$ 0.2–2.9 million annually, or US$ 14–219 per additional harvestable California halibut in the wild. This exploratory modeling study demonstrates that releasing juvenile California halibut could be a feasible management tool in the SCB, and provides a theoretical basis for field experiments. More broadly, it suggests that the allocation of resources to the production of larger and / or better surviving juveniles, in addition to optimizing release sex ratios, should be explored in stock enhancement programs. • Stock enhancement of California halibut was simulated by quantitative modeling. • Pre-defined target was achieved by releasing 0.1–1.6 million larger-sized (40–200 mm) juveniles. • Outcomes were strongly mediated by survival and sex ratio of released fish. • Annual costs to achieve the target were US$ 0.2–2.9 million. • Provides guidance for the allocation of resources in stock enhancement programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining resource allocation practices, including savings, of charter schools is critical to understanding their financial viability and sustainability. Using 9 years of finance data from California, we find charter schools spend less on instruction and pupil support services than traditional public schools. The lower spending on instruction and pupil support is offset, not by administrative costs, but by higher spending on operations, consultant services, and a greater rate of savings (carry-over). Further, analysis indicates that the differences in resource allocation patterns between charter schools and traditional public schools is not completely explained by the characteristics of students served. The resource allocation practices revealed in this study, combined with findings from prior research, shed some light on how charter schools may avoid financial deficiency and ensure their sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We tested the Analytical Hierarchy Process tool for its use in public health to identify potential gaps in emergency preparedness by local health departments (LHDs) in California and Hawaii during a radiological emergency. Methods. We developed a dedicated tool called All-Hazards Preparedness Squared (AHP2) that can be used by those who are responsible for all-hazards preparedness planning and response to guide them while making strategic decisions both in preparing for and responding to a slow-moving incident while it is unfolding. The tool is an Internet-based survey that can be distributed among teams responsible for emergency preparedness and response. Twenty-eight participants from 16 LHDs in California and Hawaii responsible for coordinating preparedness and response in a radiological emergency participated in using the tool in 2013. We used the data to compare the perceived importance of different elements of preparedness among participants and identify gaps in preparedness of their organizations for meeting the challenges presented by a radiological incident. Results. Clarity of information and transfer of information (to and from agency to public, state, and federal partners) were public health officials’ dominant concerns while responding to an emergency. Participants also found that there were gaps in the adequacy of training and awareness of the chain of command during a radiological emergency. Conclusion. This preliminary study indicates that the AHP2 tool could be used for decision making in all-hazards preparedness planning and response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information about the Building Capacity initiative established by the National Environmental Health Association and government software company, Accela. It notes an environment health perspective in the aftermath of the 2015 Butte Fire in California. It cites activities that demonstrate building capacity in light of the Butte Fire event including securing mutual aid through environmental health networks, and the collection of digital records about the event.

Although research has shown many benefits of Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) or group visits, uptake by physicians has been quite limited. The objective of this study was to explore the facilitators and barriers to implementing SMAs in a large multispecialty medical group. This was a comparative analysis of SMAs at 3 geographically distinct, semiautonomous divisions of the medical group based on qualitative themes identified in audio recorded key informant interviews with medical and administrative staff ( n=12) involved with the implementation of SMAs. Data were collected by conducting key informant interviews focusing on the SMA implementation process, including motivations, history, barriers, and facilitators. Uptake at the 3 divisions was predicated by differing motivations, facilitators, and barriers. Divisions 1 and 2 allocated necessary resources including management support, a physician champion, expert consults, and support staff. These divisions also overcame physician reluctance and financial sustainability challenges. Despite early interest, Division 3 did not devote the time or resources to overcome initial resistance. Without the impetus of management mandate or a champion's enthusiasm, early attempts of SMA implementation faltered and were abandoned. In these cases, a physician champion, management support, and financial sustainability were judged to be the primary enablers of successful implementations of SMAs. Without these enablers and other contributing factors, implementing SMAs was challenging. (Population Health Management 2014;17:100-105) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Illustrate the value of a strategy used for measuring the costs and resources used in the implementation process over and above the costs of the intervention itself in the context of a two-arm randomized controlled trial. Methods: Counties in California and Ohio (sites) were invited to implement Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), an alternative to congregate care for youth. Participating sites (n =53) were randomized to one of two implementation strategies, (1) Community Development Teams (CDT) where sites share information and move through the implementation process as a cohort facilitated by an MTFC purveyor or (2) Individual Implementation (IND: “as usual”) where sites work individually with the MTFC purveyor. The implementations were monitored using the Stages of Implementation Completion (SIC) measure of a number of observable activities, developed as part of the trial to segment the implementation process into 8 stages of implementation. Resource data gathered from the implementation purveyors and site participants were used to map costs onto each of the 8 stages to generate total cost measures stratified by type of resource and stage of implementation for each of the study arms. Results: The SIC provided a feasible costing template to map costs onto observable activities and to enable the examination of important differences in implementation strategies for an evidence-based practice. The average total implementation cost prior to program start-up of CDT was $133,106; IND costs $118,699. While CDT costs more in a number of stages, it resulted in fewer county staff hours being used and shorter mean times to implementation than IND. In cases where rapidity of implementation of reducing staff time required for implementation is valued, then CDT would be the preferable implementation approach. Conclusions: The SIC is a useful tool for determining implementation resources needed for new evidence-based practice programs for youth and particularly for comparing different implementation strategies that might be tried in pilot programs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Intramural funding programs within both large and small research institutions are an essential mechanism to foster collaborative, novel, or preliminary research activity, and to further institutional research strategic goals. At most research institutions in the United States, these funding opportunities are managed by each funding agency or program, independently of each other. The lack of a shared administrative structure for these independent programs can lead to inefficiency and ineffectiveness of any one program. For example, a researcher must navigate several websites to determine which funding opportunities are available and then face multiple submission deadlines scattered across the entire academic year. The Resource Allocation Program (RAP), a shared administrative structure at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has centralized the announcement, submission and review process for opportunities offered by multiple intramural funding sources. Results of the shared structure include increased efficiency due to consolidation of internal review committees, increased visibility of funding opportunities, increased transparency and consistency of the selection process, and enhanced availability of valuable review feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes managers’ challenges and strategies to enhance standards of care in programs serving primarily low-income Latinos. Findings suggest that making organizational changes is moderate to difficult. Important barriers as well as strategic solutions to enact positive change are highlighted. Implications for building capacity in community-based programs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper examines the problem of critical infrastructure protection in urban environments and provides a mechanism for evaluating the performance allocated resources on defense of the region. In the devised formulation, a bi-level mixed integer program and hypercube queuing model compose the mathematical model used to represent the concept of critical infrastructure protection between an attacker and a defender operating within the urban environment and an experimental design is used as the basis for observing salient properties and trends. Applying the model within Los Angeles County, California, results demonstrate the trade-offs observed in various protection schemes and illustrate how continuously increasing defense resources does not guarantee a safer region. The implication of detection strategy on response capability is also assessed through the case study, illustrating the importance of balance when deriving solutions. We also show how the mathematical model may be used to support research and development in defense technologies by identifying resource characteristics that strongly influence infrastructure protection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Elder justice connotes the principle that living free from abuse, neglect, and exploitation is a fundamental right that must be assured through public policy, safeguards built into core aging services, access to the justice system, and a robust response when abuse is reported. When service providers in California discussed challenges to preventing elder abuse, they concluded that state leadership and policy reform were needed. They formed a workgroup, hosted a summit, produced a comprehensive blueprint, and launched the California Elder Justice Coalition. Coalition members reflect on the process and offer suggestions for others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal welfare reform, local service collaborations, and the evolution of statewide information systems inspired agency interest in evidence-informed practice and knowledge sharing systems. Four agency leaders, including the Director, Deputy Director, Director of Planning and Evaluation, and Staff Development Program Manager championed the development of a learning organization based on knowledge management throughout the agency. Internal department restructuring helped to strengthen the Planning and Evaluation, Staff Development, and Personnel units, which have become central to supporting knowledge sharing activities. The Four Pillars of Knowledge framework was designed to capture agency directions in relationship to future knowledge management goals. Featuring People, Practice, Technology and Budget, the framework links the agency's services, mission and goals to the process of becoming a learning organization. Built through an iterative process, the framework was created by observing existing activities in each department rather than being designed from the top down. Knowledge management can help the department to fulfill its mission despite reduced resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Led by the agency director, the agency engaged in a Strategic Review, based on a comprehensive assessment of agency performance that identified strategies to improve organizational effectiveness through increased data-informed practice and knowledge management. The Strategic Review gathered information on staff perceptions, perceptions of external stakeholders, changing citywide and neighborhood demographics, policy mandates, and budget and workload issues. The need for the review was based upon multiple, substantial changes not addressed in the 2000 Strategic Plan, including the 2004 merger of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Aging and Adult Services, changes among the executive management team, transitions among key political entities, new policy mandates and changing budget allocations. This case study describes the Strategic Review process and content, summarizing key challenges and lessons related to addressing workload demands, fostering positive staff attitudes, balancing internal and external information needs, and integrating data use and planning processes across the agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falls are a major public health problem for older adults, and community-based organizations play a key role in educating seniors about falls prevention (FP). We conducted a qualitative process evaluation at six sites to report community-based centers' perspectives on adoption, adaptation, and sustainability of an evidence-based multifactorial FP model. Wide dissemination of new health-oriented programs requires marketing to center directors, who must consider sustainability options. The diversity and independence of community-based organizations, together with current staffing and funding limitations, suggest that fidelity to multifactorial evidence-based interventions will be difficult to achieve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied home range and habitat selection of radio-marked adult California spotted owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) randomly selected from among the breeding population of owls in the central Sierra Nevada, California from June to October 2006. The most parsimonious home-range estimate for our data was 555 ha (SE = 100 ha). Home-range size was positively correlated with the number of vegetation patches in the home range (habitat heterogeneity). We used resource selection ratios to examine selection of vegetation types by owls within our study area. Owl home ranges contained a high proportion of mature conifer forest, relative to its availability, although the confidence interval for this estimate overlapped one. We also used resource selection functions (RSF) to examine owl foraging habitat selection. Relative probability of selection of foraging habitat was correlated with vegetation classes, patch size, and their interaction. Owls showed highest selection rates for large patches (>10 ha) of pole-sized coniferous forest. Our results suggested that spotted owls in the central Sierra Nevada used habitat that contained a high proportion of mature conifer forest at the home-range scale, but at a finer scale (foraging site selection) owls used other vegetation classes interspersed among mature forest patches, consistent with our hypothesis that spotted owls may use other forest types besides old growth and mature forests when foraging. Our study provides an unbiased estimate of habitat use by spotted owls in the central Sierra Nevada. Our results suggest that forest managers continue to protect remaining mature and old-growth forests in the central Sierra Nevada because owl home ranges contain high proportions of these habitats. However, our results also showed that owls used younger stands as foraging habitat so that landscape heterogeneity, with respect to cover types, may be an important consideration for management but we did not attempt to relate our findings to fitness of owls. Thus management for some level of landscape heterogeneity for the benefit of owls should proceed with caution or under an adaptive management framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Analysis of the validity and implementation of a child maltreatment actuarial risk assessment model, the California Family Risk Assessment (CFRA). Questions addressed: (1) Is there evidence of the validity of the CFRA under field operating conditions? (2) Do actuarial risk assessment results influence child welfare workers’ service delivery decisions? (3) How frequently are CFRA risk scores overridden by child welfare workers? (4) Is there any difference in the predictive validity of CFRA risk assessments and clinical risk assessments by child welfare workers? Method: The study analyzes 7,685 child abuse/neglect reports originating in 5 California counties followed prospectively for 2 years to identify further substantiated child abuse/neglect. Measures of model calibration and discrimination were used to assess CFRA validity and compare its accuracy with the accuracy of clinical predictions made by child welfare workers. The extent of use of an override feature of the CFRA and child welfare worker reliance on CFRA risk scores for making service decisions were analyzed. Results: Imperfect but better-than-chance predictive validity was found for the CFRA on a range of measures in a large temporal validation sample (n =6,543). For 114 cases where both CFRA risk assessments and child welfare worker clinical risk assessments were available, the CFRA exhibited evidence of imperfect but better-than-chance predictive validity, while child welfare worker risk assessments were found to be invalid. Child welfare workers overrode CFRA risk assessments in only 114 (1.5%) of 7,685 cases and provided in-home services in statistically significantly larger proportions of higher- versus lower-risk cases, consistent with heavy reliance on the CFRA. Conclusions/practice implications: Until research identifies actuarial models exhibiting superior predictive validity when applied in every-day practice, the CFRA is, and will be a valuable tool for assessing risk in order to make in-home service-provision decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The need to move mental health systems toward more recovery-oriented treatment modes is well established. Progress has been made to define needed changes but evidence is lacking about the resources required to implement them. The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in California was designed to implement more recovery-oriented treatment modes. We use data from county funding requests and annual updates to examine how counties budgeted for recovery-oriented programs targeted to different age groups under MHSA. Findings indicate that initial per-client budgeting for Full Services Partnerships under MHSA was maintained in future cycles and counties budgeted less per client for children. With this analysis, we begin to benchmark resource allocation for programs that are intended to be recovery-oriented, which should be evaluated against appropriate outcome measures in the future to determine the degree of recovery-orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We examine the impact of teacher professional development on a key aspect of teacher quality—teacher knowledge. Specifically we use English Language Arts teacher content and pedagogy assessments to determine whether the California Professional Development Institutes significantly improve teacher content knowledge and whether teachers retain that knowledge six months after the institutes are completed. The results indicate that teachers vary significantly in pre-institute knowledge on the four assessed domains, that they demonstrate significant knowledge growth between the pre- and post-assessments, but that practical classroom experience hinders knowledge retention as measured six months later. Further, pre-exiting knowledge gaps are not systematically reduced thereby not alleviating the uneven distribution of teacher quality among California elementary schools. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a case study of two California school districts, San Francisco and Oakland, each of which have implemented their own versions of what is popularly known as a weighted student formula (WSF). One primary goal of the WSF policy is to increase the equity with which resources are distributed to schools. With respect to equity, the findings suggest that for particular schooling levels per-pupil spending became more responsive to student poverty and that the increase in responsiveness appears to have coincided with implementation of the WSF in the two districts. Moreover, each district relies on a different mechanism for driving resources to the schools: San Francisco relying to a greater degree on the unrestricted funds, while Oakland relies more heavily on restricted sources which, as directed by law, drive dollars to special need populations. Interestingly, neither district exhibited any significant change in the distribution of teacher experience after implementation of their SBF models; schools serving the highest proportion of students from low-income families continued to employ teachers with the least experience after implementation of the SBF models. While an additional goal of WSF was to drive more resources down to the school level to be spent, our analysis found little substantial change in the proportion of resources expended at the school versus the district level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Explaining strategies of political action committee (PAC) contributions to candidates takes two forms. Scholars emphasize either PAC or candidate characteristics as having more explanatory power over variation in PAC contributions, and this choice results in different expectations for PAC contribution patterns. Using California fruit, nut, and wine PACs, this research revisits a much-debated question: Why do PACs give to some candidates and not others? The findings indicate a mediated model best explains PAC contributions, as these PACs contribute money according to legislator characteristics but predominantly within the state of California. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation spending in California, USA exceeds conservation expenditures in many countries. To date, there has been no objective method to assess the efficiency of such spending for achieving species conservation outcomes. We conducted the first such retrospective analysis of conservation spending, examining the distribution of $2.8 billion spent on land protection by the state of California and partners from 1990 to 2006. Using a return on investment algorithm with species protection as the sole objective, we describe a “cost-efficient” funding scenario that would have protected four times more distinct species and three times more threatened and endangered species compared to the observed allocation. Differences between the species-diversity spending and the observed spending patterns reflect the myriad funding objectives, beyond protecting species, of the state. Identifying cost-effective conservation strategies are essential given the need to maintain species diversity in the face of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using data for 108 colleges in the California Community College System, this paper poses two questions. First, do California community colleges differ in their missions? Second, if they do, can inter-college differences in missions be explained? We address the first question by developing college-specific measures of curriculum mix, which we use to characterize colleges as to their curriculum emphases and specializations. We find that colleges differ in the extent to which they offer a transfer specialization or a nontransferable voc-ed specialization. Turning to the second question, we attempt to explain inter-college differences in curriculum emphasis and specialization with institutional variables including student demographics, labor market characteristics, and community characteristics. While not strong, we view our results as suggesting that curriculum emphases and specializations are related to student demographics and community needs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study on the selection of guidelines regarding the workers' compensation system. It describes the guideline selection process used in California. It aims to inform the policy makers in their attempt to develop a rational and publicly acceptable approach in selecting mandatory treatment guidelines for use in workers' compensation. It summarizes the major steps in the California guidelines selection process which include defining the purpose of the guidelines, assigning decision-making authority, and deciding whether to use existing guidelines or develop new ones. It concludes that selecting mandatory workers' compensation guidelines should involve careful planning and a transparent and well-defined process.

Youth occupy a unique place in our democratic society. They must primarily rely on others to speak on their behalf as decisions are made about the allocation of resources within and across various youth-serving institutions. Advocacy organizations comprise crucial representational assets for all youth, but America's poorest children and youth especially need an effective voice to speak for and about them. Yet advocates for youth in urban areas face tough challenges since urban voters typically have few positive connections to youth. This article draws on three years of research focused on three organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area that have successfully advocated for better policies for youth. The authors explore the strategies that these organizations have employed to overcome the challenges they face, with particular attention to the advantages that follow from advocating at the local rather than at the state or federal level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes litigation involving the restoration of water to the San Joaquin River at the Friant Dam in California. According to the author, the operation of the Friant Dam is partly responsible for the decline in Chinook salmon downstream from the water diversion. He argues that 60 miles of the river is nearly dry except for rare flood conditions. Anadromous salmon are unable to reach their spawning grounds because the water is shallow, and the habitat has been changed by warmer water and more silt and vegetation. The National Resources Defense Council and the Bureau of Reclamation approved a settlement to restore water to the river.

The inspection of food facilities is a crucial public service designed to prevent foodborne illnesses among retail food consumers. To enhance the existing food inspection process in San Bernardino County, California, a risk-based food inspection program and assessment instrument has been developed and proposed. A literature review and interviews with health professionals were conducted to establish a baseline understanding of various inspection procedures currently being employed throughout the nation. San Bernardino subsequently developed an assessment instrument and attendant inspection schedules that reflect best practices. The proposed inspection model categorizes food facilities as high, moderate, or low risk according to food properties, service population characteristics, facility history, and predefined operational risks. The San Bernardino model supports health department decision making with respect to inspection resource allocation and also makes possible sliding permit fees that reflect the relative risk associated with each facility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A variety of approaches have been used to contain escalating hospital costs. One approach is intensifying price competition. The increase in price based competition, which changes the incentives hospitals face, coupled with the fact that consumers can more easily evaluate the quality of hotel services compared with the quality of clinical care, may lead hospitals to allocate more resources into hotel rather than clinical services. Methods: To test this hypothesis we studied hospitals in California in 1982 and 1989, comparing resource allocations prior to and following selective contracting, a period during which the focus of competition changed from quality to price. We estimated the relationship between clinical outcomes, measured as risk-adjusted-mortality rates, and resources. Results: In 1989, higher competition was associated with lower clinical expenditures levels compared with 1982. The trend was stronger for non-profit hospitals. Lower clinical resource use was associated with worse risk adjusted mortality outcomes. Conclusions: This study raises concerns that cost reductions may be associated with increased mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For the purpose of evaluating their validity, survey-based synthetic estimates of problem-drinker prevalence in California's counties were correlated with social indicators of alcohol abuse. Prevalence estimates were predictive of automobile accidents and drunk-driving arrests but not of other problems. Data on drinking practices from a statewide survey provide more valid estimates than national survey data. Taking into account empirical and other factors impinging upon the validity of this prevalence formula, it is concluded that synthetic estimates provide a defensible but limited basis for estimating needs for alcoholism services in small areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess whether newborns' insurance coverage was associated with differences in the allocation of hospital services.Design: Retrospective analysis of computerized hospital discharge data, comparing resource allocation among newborns according to insurance status, controlling for race/ethnicity, diagnoses, hospital characteristics (ownership, teaching status, nursery level), and disposition.Setting: All California civilian acute-care hospitals.Patients: Population-based sample, excluding out-of-hospital and military hospital births. Resource allocation was studied among all newborns discharged in 1987 with evidence of serious problems (N = 29,751).Main Outcome Measures: Length of stay, total charges, and charges per day.Results: Sick newborns without insurance received fewer inpatient services than comparable privately insured newborns with either indemnity or prepaid coverage. This pattern was observed across all hospital ownership types. Mean stay was 15.7 days for all privately insured newborns (15.6 days for those with indemnity and 15.7 days for those with prepaid coverage), 14.8 days for Medicaid-covered newborns, and 13.2 days for uninsured newborns (P less than .001). Length of stay, total charges, and charges per day were 16%, 28%, and 10% less, respectively, for the uninsured than for all privately insured newborns (P less than .001). Resources for newborns covered by Medicaid were generally greater than for the uninsured and less than for the privately insured. Both uninsured and Medicaid-covered newborns were found to have more severe medical problems than the privately insured.Conclusions: The findings cannot be explained by differences in medical need or by differences in non-medically indicated services; they constitute prima facie evidence of inequities that need to be addressed by policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]