Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Medi-Cal Retention, Christina Salvatier

Master's Projects

This research identified the factors that contributed to the decline of Medi-Cal enrollment in the County of Santa Clara (CSC). Additionally, it determined the actions that the County of Santa Clara Health System (CSCHS) can adopt to mitigate such decline. The CSCHS is the local safety-net healthcare provider for the residents of the CSC. Despite the CSCHS experiencing a significant increase in Medi-Cal covered individuals with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, this trend has overturned by 2019, with the County witnessing a significant decrease in Medi-Cal enrollment rates.

A Project Evaluation Of The California Education Code's Aquatic Mandate And Related Safety Protocols In High School Aquatics Courses, Jesus Raygoza

Master's Projects

The California Education Code (CEC) requires high schools to provide swim lessons for their students. How can the CEC and California Health and Safety Code (HSC) be amended to ensure the safety of students in swim classes? What best practices should they follow?

An Evaluation Of California’S Continuously Appropriated Programs Funded Through Cap-And-Trade, Domingo Candelas

Master's Projects

In 2006, the State of California passed AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. Through this legislation, the state sought to reduce its carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) was tasked with doing so and thus instituted the Cap-and-Trade program, a market-based mechanism to reduce emissions. Additionally, legislation has further directed funding on an annual basis for various continuously appropriated programs. This paper will examine the efficacy of those continuously appropriated programs and their legislative intent.

San Jose’S Removing And Preventing Illegal Dumping Program (Rapid): An Evaluation Of Illegal Dumping In San Jose, Rina Laxamana

Master's Projects

Illegal dumping is a major environmental concern throughout the United States and most countries (Ichinose & Yamamoto, 2011). Abandoned items such as household material, dumped garbage or construction debris leave odors and contaminants that can threaten community health, impact the environment, and degrade the city's visual appearance (Dabholkar, Muthiyan, Srinivasan, Ravi, Jeon, & Gao, 2017). To reduce illegal dumping, many cities establish education programs, social-media-based community applications, surveillance camera monitoring, and execute policies with associated penalties and fines (Dabholkar et al., 2017). The City of San Jose is battling an illegal dumping problem and has created the Removing and Preventing …

A Process Evaluation Of The Campbell Union High School District Bond Measure Aa, Gabriel Altamirano

Master's Projects

The Board of Trustees at the Campbell Union High School District (CUHSD) completed a district wide facility assessment and created updated facilities master plans (CUHSD, 2015). Consultants were contracted to coordinate focus groups consisting of district students and staff to develop a list of facility needs across the district (CUHSD, 2015). The facilities at all five high schools were in need of major capital projects, from replacement of aging mechanical systems to new classroom spaces for student growth (CUHSD, 2015).

The school district decided to request a general obligation bond measure for the community to approve for the facility improvements …

Food Scrapping Programs And Smart Practices For Sb 1383 Compliance In Ten Selected Bay Area Cities, Alia Rizvi Haque

Master's Projects

The Problem

Thirty five percent of landfill waste in California is made up of organic waste, and 18% of landfill waste is made up of food scraps (City of Santa Clara [CSC], 2019). The buildup and decomposition of food scraps at landfills produce methane (CSC, 2019), a pollutant that heats up the atmosphere thousands of times more than carbon dioxide (California Air Resources Board [CARB], 2018). Senate Bill (SB) 1383 is meant to mitigate pollution by requiring the state to reduce organic waste in its landfills to reduce methane production (CARB, 2018). The bill requires the state to reduce organic …

Student Withdrawals In A Job Training Program, Amy Lawrence

Master's Projects

Within the context of a competitive market, shifting funding sources, and a new regulatory environment, the purpose of this paper is not to examine educational attainment, but rather to research student drop out, or withdrawal, at the post-secondary job training institution of Center for Employment Training (CET). The foremost research questions to be answered are what are the characteristics of students who withdraw from job training programs provided by Center for Employment Training, and what factors may influence withdrawal.

The South Bay Water Recycling Program: An Evaluation Of Water Recycling Outcomes In Comparison To Selected Cities And Countries, Shannon Nguyen

Master's Projects

Is the South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR) program achieving its planned recycled water outcomes? This research will compare the SBWR program's 2018 recycled water data with other water reuse programs in Las Vegas, Orange County, Singapore, and Australia. The purpose of the research is to determine whether the SBWR program is achieving its goals for conserving fresh water for beneficial reuse, and how the outcomes compare with selected cities and countries.

Graduation Rates At San Jose State University Of Transferring Community College Students With An Associate Degree For Transfer: A Process Evaluation, Alex Cordova

Master's Projects

One area of focus by the state of California to answer the educational needs is community college transfer students. Transfer students are students who begin their college career in a California community college, then transfer to a four-year degree granting institution. The state of California views this group of students as a key part of creating more college-educated Californians for the economy of the future (California Legislative Information, 2010). There are two main issues when evaluating community college transfer students. The first is the complexity of the transfer process. Second is the unreliable data that is being used to determine …

An Outcome Analysis Of The Mills Act In Three Exemplar Cities, Sean K. Gallegos

Master's Projects

The purpose of the research was to assess the outcomes of the Mills Act program in the cities of Gilroy, Santa Clara, and Mountain View, and to determine whether they are supporting the legislative intent of the program, including the use of the tax incentive program for its intended purpose of funding maintenance, restoration and preservation of the property, which will require determining the potential effects of the program on historic preservation. The research question for this study was the following: Is use of the Mills Act correlated with positive preservation outcomes of designated historic properties in the cities of …

Regulatory Disclosure Policies And Potential Induced Changes In Behavior: An Outcome Evaluation Of Santa Clara County’S Enhanced Food Safety Program Elements, Christian Cruz

Master's Projects

Despite countless advances in food microbiology and public health regulations, foodborne illness continues to be a major strain on public health outcomes and a costly economic burden. In the United States, many agencies are responsible for ensuring the quality of food, both domestically produced and imported. States and localities are delegated the responsibility of identifying and ensuring sound practices in the latter stages of the food production process, namely the retail distribution of food products to consumers.

Regulatory policies across the nation have only recently incorporated the evidenced-based principles of hazard risk management (Law, 2003). Still, food-related acute gastrointestinal illnesses …

Exploring Civil Service Eligibility List De-Identification Practices Among Large U.S. Cities, Zayba Shaikh

Master's Projects

The intention of this study is to explore how de-identification practices for Civil Service eligibility lists (removing personally identifiable information from the hiring list) differ among large U.S. cities that compose of San Francisco’s market. Areas of focus within this study include an analysis of current and past eligibility list creation processes in market cities, as well as the examination of methods used by CCSF and the market cities when using eligibility lists for hiring purposes. The methods and processes that the market cities use, which are covered in the Findings section, were compared to each other’s to allow for …

Walk N’ Roll (Wnr) San Jose: An Initiative To Promote Active Transportation And Safe Routes To School For Children In San Jose, California, François Xavier Hans Voltaire

Master's Projects

How effective is the Walk n’ Roll (WnR) program in promoting active transportation near school zones in San Jose, California? The intent of this research question is to discern the effect of the City of San Jose’s WnR program in encouraging children to actively travel to school (walking/cycling) and using other means such as scooters and skateboards. This research will use data from 2012-2018 to measure the efficacy of the program. This project strives to discover whether the tools and strategies that the program is using impact the augmentation level of the number of students who actively travel and transport …

Stakeholder Input To The Development Of The Santa Clara County Lgbtq-Focused Shelter: A Process And Policy Analysis, Anthony Montalvo

Master's Projects

Due to elevated homelessness and growing hate crimes, an LGBTQ-focused shelter was developed and implemented by Office of Supportive Housing (OSH), along with the OLGBTQ (Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer). The following research investigated whether the process to design the LGBTQ-focused shelter program in Santa Clara county took the necessary steps to ensure that the program represents the community it intends to serve. Using process evaluation to identify the problem and proposed solutions, and policy analysis to examine the alternative solutions, the research answered the question: Did the approved design of the LGBTQ-focused shelter represent the stakeholder planning …