Abrams on Promoting Justice for Troubled Youth

/0 Comments/in /by

A Social Work Advocates article on efforts to help youth navigate the juvenile justice system cited Laura Abrams, professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin. At universities around the country, social workers are being trained in more holistic strategies and practices to advocate for troubled youth. One role of school social workers is helping youth on probation or who are reentering their community following incarceration to “get readmitted into schools and to feel safe there,” said Abrams, who herself was a school social worker while getting her MSW. California recently closed its major youth correctional facilities, and Abrams’ current research is focused on “how counties can receive some of those young people and have the right types of institutions and rehabilitation programs.” She is also studying the experiences of about 1,000 people who were sentenced as teenagers to life without parole but were ultimately released. Social Work Advocates is a publication of the National Association of Social Workers.

Read the article

 

Armenta on Congress’ New Immigration Bills

/0 Comments/in /by

Amada Armenta, associate professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, commented in a Newsweek story on immigration bills introduced by House Republicans. The bills follow a number of immigration-related executive orders issued by President Trump, and focus on securing the southwest border and addressing immigrants who may be violent criminals. The legislation does not seek overall reform to a complex system that has not seen major changes in at least 30 years, according to the story. “For over three decades, Congress has led with enforcement-only approaches to immigration policy rather than common sense legislation,” said Armenta, faculty director at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. She added that reform would “require acknowledging that immigrants, including millions who are here without a legal immigration status, make tremendous and unacknowledged contributions to society and are crucial to numerous industries in the U.S. economy.” Given the political messaging, she said, “I’m not optimistic.”

Read the article

 

Peterson on Move to Freeze Federal Spending

/0 Comments/in , /by

Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a Los Angeles Times article on a Trump administration memo ordering a halt to an array of federal financial aid and spending programs. A federal judge blocked the order, finding that it could potentially cause “irreparable harm” to Americans, and several states and nonprofits launched challenges. Subsequently, the administration revoked the directive. The original memo was without precedent and left “extreme ambiguity as to what it affects and how it applies,” or how long it applies, said Peterson, a senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research who also holds appointments in political science, health policy and management, and law. “Anything that has … the aroma of dealing with equity or inclusion issues could be put under threat,” Peterson said, adding, “there’s so much misunderstanding about what those issues are.”

Read the article

 

Manville on California’s Ambitious Rail Plan

/0 Comments/in /by

Professor and chair of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning Michael Manville commented in a Smart Cities Dive brief on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to shift 200 million daily passenger miles off the state’s highways and onto a zero-emission passenger rail system by 2050. The plan, estimated to cost $310 billion — involving local, state and federal funds — also would incorporate intercity, regional and local transit systems to the high-speed network. Aimed at reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions, the project would also improve safety for travelers in the state, according to the proposal. “Shifting 200 million passenger miles off the roads is a big shift,” Manville said. However, “pulling vehicles off the road doesn’t prevent other vehicles from taking their place.” Manville also observed that in 20 years, money spent on rail has not seen strong results, “so I think it’s natural to look at big ambitious goals like this with some caution.”

Read the brief

 

Zepeda-Millán on New Administration’s Ramp-Up of Deportations

/0 Comments/in /by

Chris Zepeda-Millán, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, commented in a Newsweek article on the Trump administration’s ramping up of its immigration policy in the first week back in the White House. According to polls cited in the story, deporting migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and convicted of a crime has broad support, but that support is limited. Zepeda-Millán, also professor of Chicana/o studies and chair of UCLA’s Labor Studies program, said immigration has received heightened attention because of the Republican Party’s emphasis on it, but also because of the continuing burden of inflation. “If economic inequality in the United States wasn’t still growing, this would be less of a concern for most Americans.” Zepeda-Millán said that issues such as family separation, “widely unpopular” during President Donald Trump’s first term, are still unpopular.

Read the story

 

Anheier on Angela Merkel’s Memoir ‘Freedom’

/0 Comments/in /by

Helmut Anheier, adjunct professor of public policy and social welfare at UCLA Luskin, penned a Project Syndicate commentary on former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recently published memoir, “Freedom,” chronicling her life and career. Merkel, once considered Europe’s most influential politician, left office only three years ago, but “the world has changed so dramatically that her chancellorship already feels like it belongs to a different era,” Anheier writes. Germany’s first female chancellor’s tenure consisted of small, technocratic steps rather than “grand ambitions for Germany’s future, much less Europe’s.” While a number of crises elevated Merkel’s standing locally and globally, he writes, her legacy has been marred by several major missteps, such as misreading Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist ambitions and a reluctance to push for much-needed domestic reforms. “Nevertheless, though she was neither a visionary nor a charismatic leader, Merkel was a perfect fit for Germany at a pivotal moment in its history.”

Read the commentary

 

Large-Scale Retreat from Fire Not an Option

/0 Comments/in /by

Liz Koslov, assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin and UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, co-authored a New York Times opinion piece on the path forward after recent wildfires in Los Angeles. Koslov and co-author Kathryn McConnell of the University of British Columbia address questions about the wisdom of rebuilding and whether “managed retreat” from wildfire is even a realistic alternative. “We need a serious discussion of how to live with fire in this new era,” they write. The notion of “let it burn” is not a “realistic or humane response to the destruction of homes and communities — in either urban or rural places.” Retreat from fire risk is “a fantasy” and could, in some places, increase the danger, according to the scholars, who have published research on managed retreat from wildfire. What they do recommend is greater investment in preparing buildings as well as community-led experiments in new ways to protect neighborhoods.

Read the op-ed

 

Millard-Ball on Fire, Sprawl and Car Dependency

/0 Comments/in /by

Research by UCLA Luskin’s Adam Millard-Ball, professor of urban planning and director of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, is cited in Next City, Bloomberg and Streetsblog articles on traffic gridlock that occurred amid the devastating fires in Los Angeles. During the fire, motorists evacuating their neighborhoods were forced to abandon their cars, which had to be pushed aside by bulldozers. Millard-Ball’s paper on street-network sprawl, released on Jan. 13, notes that neighborhoods where residents struggled to flee have some of the county’s least connected streets with limited access in or out. Millard-Ball and his colleagues mapped street connectivity, not just in L.A. but worldwide. “We found that the U.S. actually has some of the least connected streets in the world,” they noted. While L.A. does have a generally well-connected grid system, the researchers found exceptions including Pacific Palisades. They added that building the streets back exactly as before would be a lost opportunity to improve disaster preparedness.

Read the Next City story
Read the Bloomberg story
Read the Streetsblog story

 

How California Health Programs Could Change Under Trump

/0 Comments/in /by

UCLA’s Mark A. Peterson appeared on KQED’s “Forum” to talk about what could happen to California health care programs as the Trump administration takes power. The Republican Party has signaled plans to overhaul the federal Medicaid program, which provides health care for low-income people, possibly leading to billions of dollars in cuts to California. Trump policies could also have major implications for the state’s health insurance marketplace as well as programs addressing homelessness and reproductive health. “The reality is that the delivery of health care is a rescue operation. That’s what we do when people become ill,” said Peterson, a professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin and senior fellow at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. “Well, what if we can prevent people from becoming ill in the first place? Which would be both enhancement for their lives and their economic productivity. It would also mean we’d be spending less on health care.”

Listen to the episode
Read excerpts from the program

 

Lens on L.A.’s Spiking Rental Housing Prices During Wildfires

/0 Comments/in /by

UCLA Luskin Professor of Public Policy and Urban Planning Michael Lens commented in an LAist story on skyrocketing rental housing prices in Los Angeles amid the region’s devastating wildfires. The article cites examples of online listings nearly doubling since the fires broke out, while thousands of residents who have lost their homes or been displaced are now scrambling to find alternative places to live. California Gov. Gavin Newsom already has imposed an emergency declaration that includes a ban on price gouging — any price increase above 10% of pre-disaster rates. In another LAist story, Lens said homeowners who’ve paid off their mortgages and long-term renters who were paying below market rates could particularly struggle to get back on their feet. “Folks who haven’t had to really think about where they’re going to live next — who may have been living in, fortunately, stable housing situations for the last couple decades — are going to see a lot of sticker shock,” Lens said.