California Policy Lab February 2021 Newsletter

More than half the households leaving CalFresh every year are still eligible

CPL’s analysis found that a federal rule requiring most households to verify their eligibility every six months is pushing hundreds of thousands of eligible Californians out of the program every year. Matt Unrath, a research fellow at CPL and the author of the analysis, was interviewed by Capitol Radio. (Photo credit: Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters)

Unemployment benefits not reaching unemployed workers equally

CPL’s December unemployment report found that unemployed people living in communities of color and in areas with high concentrations of poverty were less likely to collect unemployment benefits as compared to unemployed Californians in wealthier neighborhoods. The California Report interviewed Till von Wachter about the findings.

New Resource: California Data Roadmap

CPL’s new California Data Roadmap will help researchers to identify where administrative data is housed within various agencies in California. State-level data includes the main data assets, how to access the data, and whether CPL hosts a user group for that data. Email datapage@capolicylab.org with questions or suggestions.

CPL Awarded $3.2 Million Grant

CPL was recently awarded a 4-year, $3.2 million grant from the University of California’s Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives competition to expand its research infrastructure and work with social science researchers throughout the UC system to conduct cutting-edge research on pressing public policy issues.

2021: The Path to Economic Recovery for Consumers with Richard Cordray

CPL recently hosted Richard Cordray, the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for a conversation about the economic recovery with Evan White, executive director of CPL’s Berkeley site. Topics included the impact of late rent payments being converted to consumer debt, and how a “Benefits Bank” approach could streamline the application process for enrolling into multiple safety net programs simultaneously while also reducing stigma. 2021: The Path to Economic Recovery for Consumers.

Feb. 24th Event: Has California Ended Mass Incarceration?

Steven Raphael, a CPL Faculty Affiliate and co-author of CPL’s recent analysis of diversion programs in San Francisco, will join Abbie VanSickle from the Marshall Project on February 24th to discuss California’s shift away from mass incarceration and changes in criminal sentencing and other law enforcement practices during the past ten years. This Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event is co-presented with UC Center Sacramento. Registration

March 12th Event: California Housing and Homelessness in a post-COVID Economy: Lessons from Research and Practice

Janey Rountree, executive director of CPL’s UCLA site, will speak at this event focused on how California and the Bay Area will transition to a post-pandemic economy while also addressing California’s pressing housing, inequality, homelessness, and displacement challenges. The event is sponsored by the UC Berkeley Opportunity Lab. Registration

Job openings on CPL’s Berkeley Team

CPL recognizes the value of having a diverse staff at all levels of the organization. We are looking for equity-minded applicants who represent and understand the diverse racial and ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, educational, socioeconomic, cultural, and disability backgrounds present in California.

1. Senior Data Architect (based at UC Berkeley, but serves the entire lab)

2. Criminal Justice Research Associate

3. Criminal Justice Research Manager

How the California Policy Lab is helping state and local agencies tackle homelessness, poverty and other key policy challenges

Evan White and Janey Rountree are interviewed about how CPL’s work with local and state government partners is creating momentum for evidence-based policymaking in California.

They went bust in the Great Recession. Now, in their 80s, the pandemic took their jobs

Till von Wachter is interviewed about CPL’s most recent unemployment report which found that more than half of the senior workforce (aged 65 to 85) in California has filed for unemployment benefits at some point during the crisis.

Editorial: CalFresh must be made more accessible, less prohibitive for Californians

This editorial cites CPL’s new research about eligibility verifications in the CalFresh program pushing income-eligible Californians out of the program.

This year’s homeless count was canceled. Is it time to rethink it?

Janey Rountree is interviewed about the importance of the annual homeless count to understand how homelessness is trending and to ensure that people who aren’t interacting with existing services are also counted.

One In Three Households Eligible For CalFresh Don’t Participate In Program

Matt Unrath is interviewed about the new analysis released by CPL finding that eligibility verifications which are mandated by federal law, are the culprit for hundreds of thousands of eligible Californians leaving the CalFresh program.

New California EDD snag could leave some without benefits for 2.5 months

CPL’s earlier analysis about the number of people who would be impacted by the “UI Cliff” last December is cited.