blog post A Changing State of Water Conservation By Lori Pottinger Jun 1, 2016 The state continues to learn from the latest drought--an expert interview with Fran Spivy-Weber of the California State Water Board.
blog post Testimony: Closing California’s Workforce Skills Gap By Hans Johnson May 18, 2016 Hans Johnson, PPIC Higher Education Center director, testifies before a legislative subcommittee and identifies specific goals that together could close California’s workforce skills gap.
Report Improving College Graduation Rates: A Closer Look at California State University By Kevin Cook, Jacob Jackson May 17, 2016 Low college graduation rates come at a high cost—lower salaries, lower tax revenue, and fewer college graduates in the workforce. At California State University (CSU), the nation's largest university system, graduation rates have an outsized financial and economic impact on students and the state. CSU has made strides in improving graduation rates, but there is more work to be done. The system continues to struggle with graduation gaps—underrepresented students are much less likely to complete their degree compared to their peers, and these gaps have not narrowed over time. Also, CSU's on-time (four-year) graduation rates still lag behind those of similar universities nationwide. By 2025, CSU aims to further increase graduation rates while cutting graduation gaps in half. To assist campus planning for this goal, we identify several promising programs and policies. More broadly, the CSU Chancellor's Office must work with campuses to evaluate and expand successful efforts, and the state must play a role in supporting new policies to move the needle on graduation gaps and on-time graduation.
blog post Video: County Jails and the ACA By Linda Strean May 16, 2016 Helping jail inmates get health care coverage could have multiple benefits, according to a new report presented in Sacramento.
blog post Closing California’s Health Insurance Gap By Shannon McConville, Mia Bird May 11, 2016 County jails may provide an opportunity to reach uninsured Californians, improving both public safety and public health.
Report Expanding Health Coverage in California: County Jails as Enrollment Sites By Shannon McConville, Mia Bird May 10, 2016 In 2014, the first year of Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation, the number of Californians with health insurance increased substantially. However, millions of state residents continue to lack comprehensive health coverage, and those who remain uninsured are likely more difficult to enroll through traditional strategies. In this report, we find that uninsured rates are highest for young men and for those with low levels of education, income, and employment. The prevalence of these same characteristics among correctional populations suggests that the justice system—and, in particular, county jails—may offer points of contact for many uninsured individuals who would otherwise be hard to reach. Outreach and enrollment efforts aimed at local jail populations are set within the policy context of California’s 2011 Public Safety Realignment, which created incentives and resources for local corrections agencies to improve reentry outcomes. With expansions in access to health insurance coverage under the ACA, nearly all counties are establishing programs to provide enrollment assistance to jail inmates as part of a more comprehensive reentry strategy. But resources and capacity are limited, so it is important to identify effective models to maximize the potential of county correctional systems as sites of insurance enrollment.
blog post California’s Renters in the Dark on Drought Targets By Dean Bonner, Caitrin Chappelle Aug 6, 2015 Most Californians don’t know the details of the state’s mandatory water conservation requirements, but homeowners are twice as likely than renters to know how much they have to cut back.
blog post Increasing Transfer Students at UC By Jacob Jackson Jun 15, 2015 The University of California has agreed to bring in more transfer students. Unless there is funding to increase enrollment, there may be fewer places for entering freshman.
