Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons^™

Educating Children And Youth Experiencing Homelessness By Funding Local Implementation: Compliance For Positive Student Outcomes Under The Mckinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Darius Jamal Brown

Master's Projects

This project focused on two LEAs that received EHCY funding in California, and aimed to answer the following research question: How does receiving EHCY funding affect the services directed at fulfilling the goal of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of ensuring free public education for children and youth experiencing homelessness in two California counties?

Veteran Service Organizations’ Declining Membership And How To Fix It, Ben Sok

Master's Projects

The purpose of this project is to provide VSO’s struggling to recruit and retain members with a resource to assist them in identifying potential members, their barriers for membership, what programs and services they desire, and solicit recommendations for improvement. By focusing on TAL and analyzing their issues, a standard survey pool can be developed so that similar organizations can create personalized surveys that are concise, efficient, and effective as well as reducing respondent burden as much as possible. Such a survey is more likely to be completed by veterans and their families offering more data for analysis useful in …

Cost Effectiveness And Hospitalization Rates Of Those With Mental Health Issues Using On-Site Versus Off-Site Job Coaching, Jerry Dattilo

Master's Projects

The State of California’s Department of Rehabilitation has established a goal of reducing the rate of unemployment for people suffering from mental illness (Department of Rehabilitation, 2020). Sheltered workshops and short duration employment efforts have proven to be less effective than the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) or other supported employment models. Provided that they have the right support and strategies, those suffering from mental illness can maintain competitive employment and reduce their incidences of hospitalization, dependency, boredom, and lack of fulfillment. The alienation one suffers from lack of social connection and employment cannot be understated. Participants in supported employment …

California’S Proposition 47: The Safe Neighborhoods And Schools Act, Edith Garcia Fong

Master's Projects

Proposition 47 made drastic changes to California’s criminal justice system. Critics and proponents of the measure have made sweeping claims about its impact on crime trends and the criminal justice system, in general. However, many of these claims are based on assumptions and are not based on actual data and research. Given the fact that California’s prison population is still subject to court oversight, it is essential that the effectiveness of Proposition 47 as a solution to this issue be evaluated. If the state hopes to maintain compliance with the court-mandated prison population caps, it must ensure to exhaust all …

Purchasing For A Better Future: Sustainable Procurement In The County Of Santa Clara, Mariah Teal Lindberg

Master's Projects

In brief, this study aims to address sustainable procurement in SCC and its Procurement Department (PRC). A multi-varied analysis and discussion of market industries and the vendor community, present SCC policies and programs, and the overarching feasibility and environmental impact of sustainable procurement is provided to assist SCC in meeting its vision of sustainability. Procurement is a dynamic process, and for that reason, requires transformation and "strategic decision-making about how to best pursue and achieve long-term sustainability aims and goals" through SCC's purchasing vehicles (SCC OOS, 2018c, para. 4). Today, SCC, like many other governments, is grappling with the problems …

Youth Employment And Work Readiness: An Outcome Evaluation Of The County Of Santa Clara Intern & Earn Program, Kimlien Le

Master's Projects

The purpose of this research was to conduct an outcome evaluation of the County of Santa Clara Intern & Earn summer internship program, evaluating the impact of the program on the youth participants’ perception of their work readiness, as measured by their understanding of employer expectations, ability to communicate professionally, knowledge of career options, and their educational aspirations for future career advancement.

By placing low-income youth in subsidized summer employment programs that provide early work experiences with public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses; disadvantaged youth are given the opportunity to access skills development and employer networks, increase family earnings, …

Sustainable Cannabis Policy In California: Addressing The Legal Cannabis Industry’S Carbon Footprint, Genevieve Yip

Master's Projects

As cannabis cultivation can be highly energy-intensive, the legalization of cannabis growing has created concerns for energy forecasting, electric system reliability, rate design, and energy efficiency policies, as well as possible ramifications for the state’s electricity grid (California Energy Commission, 2018b). Indoor cannabis cultivation in California accounts for 3% of the state’s total energy consumption (Mills, 2012), and as the industry continues to grow, its energy consumption will result in significant greenhouse gas emissions, unless otherwise mitigated (Warren, 2015). The addition of a new industry that is highly energy-intensive, such as the legalized cannabis industry, is a problem for California. …

The Adoption Of Zero-Emissions Vehicles By Low-Income Consumers In California: An Outcome Evaluation Of The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, Julie Nguyen

Master's Projects

Is the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) program achieving its planned outcomes of accelerating the adoption of Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) by low-income consumers in California? This research will evaluate what effect additional CVRP rebates provided to low-income consumers have on their adoptions of ZEVs. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the CVRP rebates are making it feasible and compelling enough for low-income consumers to adopt ZEVs at a rate that will lead to California meeting its greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Pupil Transportation Alternatives: An Analysis Of Alternative Pupil Transportation Models, Jarrett Garife

Master's Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine whether alternative pupil-transportation models are more cost efficient and safer for students than traditional school bus transportation in California. The study also focused on the fiscal and safety challenges that school districts face when transporting students. For the purpose of this analysis, “safer” will be defined in relation to the estimated injury or fatality costs resulting from a vehicle/school bus accident during pupil transportation.

The study analyzed the transportation departments of five California school districts (San Francisco Unified School District, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, Salinas City Elementary School District, Chualar Union …

What Factors Influence The Success Of Soft Story Retrofit Programs? The Example Of San Francisco’S Program, Thanh Thuy Nguyen

Master's Projects

In the event of an earthquake, one of the types of structures that is most susceptible to collapse is soft-story buildings (Association of Bay Area Governments [ABAG], 2016). Built before current regulation and codes were enacted, a soft-story residential building is a building that has commercial space or open parking on the first floor, with units built above it (ABAG, 2016). The first floor has a weak structure and the units above the first floor weigh heavily on it (Arroyo, 2019). Due to their building structure, these properties may sway or collapse during an earthquake, ultimately causing fatalities and damage …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Hud’S Transitional Housing Unit Program’S Role In The Santa Clara County Community Plan To End Homelessness, Emilie Thorburn-Quihuis

Master's Projects

Counties in California invest local, state, and federal funds to try to end homelessness. At present the homeless numbers in Santa Clara County are among the highest in the U.S. at 6,556, with 33% of those being chronically homeless. Using process evaluation to compare permanent housing and shelter demographics and recurrence rates, how is the federal Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Transitional Housing Units Program (THU) in Santa Clara County meeting the goals of the county’s Community Plan to End Homelessness 2015-2020 (2013)?

California Redevelopment 2.0: Implementation Of Community Revitalization And Investment Authorities, Christopher Hoem

Master's Projects

This research aims at revealing the challenges and opportunities in implementing Community Revitalization and Investment Authorities (CRIAs) in California.

This study will focus on the implementation of CRIAs, but it is worth examining alternative economic development tools to draw comprehensive comparisons and understand their advantages and disadvantages.

Understanding economic development tools may be valuable for the commercial and industrial growth and prosperity of cities and local governments. It may also be important to increase the number of affordable housing units in an area. Businesses and low-income families alike share the benefits of successful redevelopment. It may be possible to reveal …

Us China Trade Dispute Over Intellectual Property, Mozi Luo

Master's Projects

How have Section 301 investigations impacted trade relations between China and the U.S. in clean energy area, and between Japan and the U.S. in semiconductor and auto part areas, and does the impact provide a guide for the possible outcome of the upcoming Section 301 investigation of China?

After President Donald Trump’s memorandum on August 14, 2017 stating that China’s behavior regarding intellectual property rights (IPR) and the high technology industries adversely influences the U.S. economy, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) declared the initiation of a section 301 investigation of China on the topic of technology transfer and intellectual …

San Jose's Walk N' Roll Program: An Evaluation Of School Pedestrian Education Programs, Stephen Ngo

Master's Projects

The City of San Jose has been recognized as among the safest cities in the United States, but an area that the city seeks to improve in is reducing the number of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists. As stated by the city, “San Jose’s injury crash rate is about half the national average” (Vision Zero San Jose, 2015, p. 6), but, on average, 40 people are killed annually and 150 are seriously injured on San Jose’s streets. To address this, San Jose is using data, education, and technology to make a shift towards creating streets and roads that benefit …

Police Response To Mental Health-Related Calls For Service In The City Of Watsonville: A Process Evaluation Of The City Of Watsonville’S Plan To Assist Their Officers When Responding To Citizens With Mental Health Issues, Joseph Perez

Master's Projects

Police officers respond to a variety of calls for service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including mental-health related emergencies. With deinstitutionalization of individuals with severe mental illness, officers are often the first to be called to contact these individuals when they are in crisis (DeCuir, Lamb & Weinberger, 2002). Yet, few law enforcement officers have adequate training to manage interactions with people in mental health crisis. Officers perceive mental health related calls as very unpredictable and dangerous, which without adequate training in de-escalation, could inadvertently cause them to approach in a manner which escalates the situation (Fulambarker …

Leveraging The Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (Wioa) To Help Finance College & University Career Centers, Daniel Newell

Master's Projects

This research explores whether career services for the adult and dislocated worker populations of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) can be leveraged to provide career services in a college or university setting to serve students and the public while meeting WIOA’s enrollment goals. For colleges and universities without career centers, leveraging WIOA funding may be a solution to increasing career center resources and expanding existing career services, while augmenting program support through federal funding.

Benchmarking The Delivery Of Fema Training To Operation Line Employees Within Surface Transit Agencies, Matthew E. Mccann

Master's Projects

In February 2003, in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, the administration of then President George W. Bush developed Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5), which mandated the use of the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the Incident Command System (ICS) by all agencies receiving federal funding (Bush, 2003). The intent of HSPD-5 was to “enhance the ability of the United States to manage domestic incidents by establishing a single, comprehensive national incident management system” (Bush, 2003), or in other words, to ensure that emergency response by the many disparate agencies under the umbrella of government funding …

Smarter Crm From A Customer Service Perspective: A Process Evaluation On The City Of San José'S My San Jose Smartphone Application For City Services, Roxanna Moradi

Master's Projects

This research paper provides background on the City of San José’s smart phone application history and reviews other similar municipal smart phone applications. It also analyzes current literature on implementations of non-emergency service communications and service requests (311). Primarily, this research paper investigates whether the functioning of the My San Jose smartphone application and website platforms are meeting the intended goal of improving the customer experience for city services.

This paper analyzes My San Jose raw service request data to review performance. In addition, this paper analyzes qualitative information gathered from semi-structured interviews of City of San José employees to …

Extending Ab-1825 Training At Santa Clara Valley Water District, Heather Reiss

Master's Projects

In 2004 the California legislature passed AB-1825, Sexual Harassment Training and Education, Government Code 12950, which mandates that employers train all supervisors in the identification of sexual harassment, and ways to ensure that it does not occur in the workplace (Legislative Counsel, 2004). The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) is a mission driven organization that is committed to providing excellent water services to the community. According to the Valley Water website (2018) “The mission of the District is to provide Silicon Valley with safe, clean water for a healthy life, environment, and economy” (Valley Water, 2018, web). As a …

Cycling Into The Future: Implementation Of Enhanced Bikeways Along San Fernando Street In Downtown San Jose, Patrick Rubens

Master's Projects

In 2012, the City of San Jose acquired funding from the Transportation for Livable Communities Grant Program and began installing “green striped” enhanced bicycle lanes on a 1.5 mile stretch San Fernando Street between Diridon Station and 10th Street connecting San Jose’s Downtown Train Station to San Jose State University. According to city documents, these enhanced bikeways are intended to “enhance the visibility and safety of this route as a primary bikeway.” An important element of the project was the installation of LED streetlights to improve nighttime visibility. This specific project undertaken by the city falls under the umbrella of …

Path2 Services Court: A Process Evaluation, Octavio Jimenez

Master's Projects

In 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court received a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant to improve the efficacy of the Juvenile Treatment Court (JTC) and Court for the Individualized Treatment of Adolescents (CITA) programs by streamlining the referral, screening, and court hearing processes. Receipt of the grant allowed the Superior Court to integrate JTC and CITA to establish the Progress Achieved Through Hope and Holistic Services (PATH2 Services) Court.

This research analyzed whether the Santa Clara County Superior Court successfully integrated the JTC and CITA programs when it established PATH2 Services. In addition it determined …