blog post The Pandemic Has Highlighted the Needs of California’s Youth By Caroline Danielson, Mary Severance Mar 24, 2021 We spoke with Jevon Wilkes, executive director of the California Coalition for Youth, about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected transitional-age youth (16–24) and the importance of connecting them with basic resources and key supports.
blog post Operating Dams to Better Manage Big Storms Can Build Resiliency to Climate Extremes By Lori Pottinger Mar 8, 2021 California’s reservoirs are operated using outdated assumptions about climate. Advances in weather forecasting can improve how they manage big storms. We talked to Martin Ralph of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography about this approach.
blog post What Lessons Can Be Learned from Project Roomkey? By Shannon McConville Dec 4, 2020 Project Roomkey has provided emergency housing to more than 22,000 people experiencing homelessness amid the pandemic. Examining its impact, including the wide variation across counties, can provide lessons for how California tackles homelessness over the long term.
blog post Video: Building a Water-Resilient California By Lori Pottinger Nov 23, 2020 What are key California water priorities for the coming year, in light of ongoing disruptions from the pandemic, the recession, lingering drought, and a record-breaking fire season? Panels of experts discussed three top priorities.
blog post What Can California Prisons Do When Wildfires Close In? By Heather Harris, Alexandria Gumbs, Joseph Hayes Nov 13, 2020 Two in three prisons across the state are near areas of high fire risk. Especially during the pandemic, safely evacuating prisoners and prison workers in the event of a wildfire can pose challenges.
blog post Making End-of-Life Decisions on Aging Dams By Lori Pottinger Nov 9, 2020 Many of California’s large dams are outliving their functions and even becoming hazardous. We talked to Andrew Rypel of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences about how to address this aging dam population.
blog post Recession Safety Net Needed for State’s Small Water Systems By Caitrin Chappelle, Lori Pottinger Oct 6, 2020 California has many small water systems that serve economically disadvantaged communities, which were already struggling before the pandemic and recession hit. We talked to experts at the State Water Board about what can be done to keep them from falling off a financial cliff.
blog post Pretrial Reform in California By Heather Harris, Magnus Lofstrom Aug 26, 2020 New PPIC research examines a proposed criminal justice reform that would end money bail and replace it with a new process of determining pretrial release.
Report Reforming Pretrial Justice in California By Heather Harris, Magnus Lofstrom Aug 19, 2020 This November, Californians will vote on a significant shift in pretrial processes in the state.
Report Improving K-12 School Facilities in California By Niu Gao, Julien Lafortune Aug 5, 2020 Amid a statewide spike in coronavirus cases, most California schools will start the year remotely. When in-person classes do resume, cleanliness and safety will be paramount. But four in ten students attend schools that do not meet minimum facility standards.
