Every year, over a million Californians receive workforce support and training from state and federally funded programs. In an efort to learn more about the impact of these programs and to improve them, an inter-agency partnership led by the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) created Cross-System Analytics and Assessment for Learning and Skills Attainment (CAAL-Skills). The CAALSkills partnership facilitates data-sharing across seven California state agencies that deliver thirteen workforce programs. Bringing this data together signifcantly improves the state’s ability to observe who is enrolled in these programs and makes it possible, for the frst time, to measure the impacts these programs have on participants’ employment and earnings.

This policy brief highlights fndings from the frst causal study to estimate the impacts of ten training programs that report to CAAL-Skills, performed by the California Policy Lab at the University of California. The causal impact measures the efect of receiving training on participants’ employment and earnings, relative to what those same workers would have experienced without training. Training participants are compared to matched individuals with similar demographic and earnings histories who did not receive training, and the impact of training is measured as the diference between the trainees’ outcomes and their matched “twins.” This strategy successfully identifes training impacts for most of the training programs. However, there are a few programs — particularly those that serve distinctive populations with specifc employment barriers, such as Vocational Rehabilitation programs — for which the strategy is not successful at identifying valid comparisons. Of the ten programs that provide training, there was evidence on causal impact estimates available for six programs, suggestive evidence on impacts for two programs, and no evidence available for two programs. Full methodological details and fndings, along with improved research options for all programs and the CAAL-Skills partnership are detailed in the report.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278

This paper uses data collected by Street Outreach services during FY2018-19 from 37,000 unsheltered individuals to address a request by the Commission of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to answer important questions about service needs for unsheltered individuals, whether differences exist in housing enrollments for unsheltered individuals between race and ethnic groups, and the prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) among the unsheltered population.

CPL found that 17% of all Street Outreach clients were enrolled in interim housing, rapid re-housing, or permanent supportive housing within one year of enrollment in Street Outreach. Although CPL could not directly measure the overall prevalence of SMI in the unsheltered population, this analysis provides a lower bound estimate of SMI prevalence for this population by linking LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) service records to Street Outreach data. Twenty percent of Street Outreach clients had a clinical diagnosis of SMI within the previous twelve years. Street Outreach clients with clinical diagnoses of SMI were more likely to be placed into interim housing, rapid re-housing, or permanent supportive housing than clients without observed DMH service history.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278.

In Los Angeles, 45,021 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness received street outreach services between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020. Supporting and housing unsheltered residents is an urgent priority in Los Angeles, and it is imperative to better understand the challenges that individuals are facing. Questions persist about the size and unique needs of the group of individuals who are unsheltered and diagnosed with a serious mental illness (SMI). This is because unsheltered individuals experiencing serious mental illness, and particularly those individuals with a diagnosis of a psychotic spectrum disorder (“PSD”), may experience symptoms that could cause or contribute to losing housing and that could lengthen the duration of homelessness. This group often needs intensive, specialized, and coordinated care in order to exit homelessness. To better understand the prevalence of psychotic spectrum disorders (“PSD”) among those who are unsheltered, the California Policy Lab (CPL) linked homeless outreach service records found in the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s (LAHSA) Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to service records at the LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the LA County Department of Health Services (DHS). We used the linked data to estimate the number of people who are enrolled in a street outreach program and who had a service visit for serious mental illness (“SMI”) in the five years prior to their street outreach enrollment. We then stratified this group into two distinct groups: those with service visits with a diagnosis of PSD and those with service visits with a diagnosis of a serious mental illness without psychotic symptoms (“Other SMI”). We analyzed these data to show how many people in these groups were enrolled in interim or permanent housing within one year of their enrollment in street outreach services, and we break down interim and permanent housing enrollments by race and ethnicity. Our analysis also shows how many street outreach participants did not have service records for PSD or Other SMI within the five years prior to enrolling in street outreach.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278.

Every year, over a million Californians receive workforce support and training from state and federally funded programs. In an effort to learn about the benefits of these programs, an inter-agency partnership led by the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) created Cross-System Analytics and Assessment for Learning and Skills Attainment (CAAL-Skills). The CAAL-Skills partnership facilitates data-sharing across seven California state agencies that deliver thirteen workforce programs. Bringing this data together significantly improves the state’s ability to observe who is enrolled in these programs and makes it possible, for the first time, to measure the impacts these programs have on participants’ employment and earnings.

This report highlights findings from the first causal study to estimate the impacts of ten California workforce training programs that share data with CAAL-Skills. The causal impact measures the effect of receiving training on participants’ employment and earnings, relative to what those same workers would have experienced without training.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278.

In this study, we evaluate the surveys used to screen adults and families who self-identify as being at risk of homelessness. Specifically, we evaluate screening surveys called Prevention Targeting Tools (PTTs) currently used by homelessness prevention service providers in the City and County of Los Angeles. The PTTs are used to determine whether people are eligible for prevention services. As a result of this research, we are proposing revised tools for single adults, families, and transition aged youth. The proposed tools are available in Appendix B: Revised Family, Adult and Transition-Age Youth PTTs. We also recommend changes to how the tools are administered and a continuous improvement process.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278.