A Call for Heat Preparedness at California Schools

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A California Healthline article on how to help schools become more heat-resilient in the face of global warming cited recommendations laid out in a policy brief from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, including setting an indoor temperature limit and investing in shade and greenery for play areas. Two of the policy brief’s co-authors, Associate Professor of Urban Planning V. Kelly Turner and graduate student Lauren Dunlap, are currently modeling how increasing the tree canopy to 30% can affect heat stress and researching the different benefits of dispersed or clustered tree configurations. “Obviously, the California Education Board wasn’t set up to think about climate change. But now that climate change is a reality, virtually every sector is going to have to think about it,” Turner said. The article, which appeared in the Sacramento Bee, LAist and other outlets, noted that legislative action includes a bill by State Sen. Caroline Menjivar MSW ’18 that would require schools to have heat plans by 2027.

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Study Finds Marginalization of Black and Latino Youth by Gun Violence Prevention Groups

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An article in The Guardian cited research led by UCLA scholars exploring the marginalization of Black and Latino organizers by national gun violence prevention groups. Co-principal investigators Sara Wilf and Taylor Reed, both UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Ph.D. students, worked with a UCLA Luskin-based team, including Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake, the faculty advisor on the project. The researchers interviewed young Black and Latino violence prevention advocates who have had experience with gun violence prevention organizations. Findings from the study, representing the last four years, include reports by interviewees of “being tokenized, silencing of racially conscious organizing and expectation to educate white person racism,” according to team members who presented their work at the annual Society for Social Work and Research conference held in Phoenix in January. The study, which is now being peer reviewed, is supported by a grant from the UCLA Initiative to Study Hate and the Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. Social Justice Award.

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Gilens on Building Public Support for Black Reparations

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An Associated Press story about efforts to win public support for reparations made to Black Americans cited Martin Gilens, professor of public policy, social welfare and political science. The article focused on a new philanthropic initiative that is providing financial support to smaller nonprofits advocating for reparations to atone for the nation’s legacy of slavery and systemic racism. Opponents of reparations argue that current taxpayers should not be responsible for damages for historical wrongs. “It’s kind of a foreign concept to Americans, this idea of collective reparations for collective harms,” said Gilens, whose books include “Affluence & Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America” and “Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.” Gilens added, however, that support increases when parameters are set that direct potential benefits to specific groups rather than a broad population. 

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Yin on the Burden of Medical Debt in L.A.

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Wesley Yin, associate professor of public policy at UCLA Luskin, spoke to LAist about the burdens of medical debt. In Los Angeles County, 1 in 10 adults are currently in debt due to medical care. Yin’s research shows that when hospitals wipe out patients’ debt and temporarily reduce how much they pay in co-pays, they are more likely to fill prescriptions and utilize health care resources. Yet within six months, even those whose debt was forgiven had returned to getting less care due to high costs. “Getting rid of medical debt may help in the short term, but a one-time cancellation doesn’t impact the future debts they may incur,” Yin said. He added that medical credit cards and other loans for medical bills can have high interest rates that deepen debt and threaten patients’ financial security.

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Shoup’s Solution to Parking Congestion in Manhattan

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Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, wrote a commentary for Bloomberg CityLab about how to reduce the overwhelming amount of congestion in Manhattan. A pay-to-park model that changes price depending on demand — which many motorists might find undesirable at first — would ensure that most of the curb space is well used while also leaving room for a few vacant spots, Shoup explained. “Revenue generated by the meters can be used to pay for public services, such as repairing sidewalks, planting street trees or providing other improvements,” he said. “Few will pay for curb parking, but all will benefit from public services.” The meter revenues could also be used to pay for transit passes for workers, allowing commuters who use buses to benefit as well. Shoup calculated that employing this model would allow the Upper West Side to raise $237 million every year.

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Making Strides Toward Climate Justice

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LAist highlighted the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation‘s work with the Transformative Climate Communities program, which funds neighborhood-level action to reduce the pollution driving the climate crisis. The program is active in low-income and historically underserved communities that have been severely impacted by pollution and environmental racism. A recent evaluation by the Center for Innovation found that the program has made an impact in providing local green jobs, creating avenues for implementing community-driven climate solutions, and building trust between communities and government entities that haven’t always been partners. “There’s definitely a demand for this type of program, one that allows communities to pursue their priorities to advance their vision for change,” said Colleen Callahan, co-executive director of the Center for Innovation.

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‘Taking the Raw Edges Off Capitalism’

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Dan Mitchell, UCLA Luskin professor emeritus of public policy, wrote an essay for Zocalo Public Square about efforts in 1930s California to build a social safety net for older Americans, with lessons for today’s debates on aging and “entitlements.” The campaigns, which predated the launch of Social Security, included the Townsend Plan, which called for the federal government to give $200 a month to every American over 60, and the Ham and Eggs initiative, which called on the state of California to give $30 to adults over 50 every Thursday. While these efforts failed, their larger ideas would triumph. “Social Security was not inspired by the Townsend Plan, but it was part of the New Deal’s larger idea of taking the raw edges off capitalism through government intervention,” Mitchell wrote. Advocates for the aging population remained a force in California politics for years, fighting battles that foreshadowed today’s struggle over how to divide the economic pie between younger and older generations.

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Lens on the Population Exodus in Northern California

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Michael Lens, associate professor of urban planning and public policy, spoke to the Los Angeles Times about a stark population decline in California, specifically in cities in Northern California. Factors such as the Bay Area’s tech-rich economy have led to an increase in remote work, resulting in an exodus of employees to less expensive locales. “Hundreds of thousands more people would desire to live in the Bay Area — if not millions — and Southern California if we made it easier to accommodate those people through more housing units and presumably more affordable housing,” Lens said. Many remote areas saw an influx of people, but Lens noted that an increase in housing is mostly needed in major cities. Urban centers can grow more efficiently, he said, adding that moving to places with lower population densities could also lead to longer commutes.

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An L.A. Story of Power, Influence and Big Personalities

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The Los Angeles Times put a spotlight on the newly released autobiography of Zev Yaroslavsky, a fixture in L.A. civic life for decades and now the director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin. “Zev’s Los Angeles: From Boyle Heights to the Halls of Power” revisits “the period in which Los Angeles became what we know today: big and complex, multiracial, exciting, divided and far deeper than what meets the eye,” writes UCLA Blueprint editor Jim Newton in his review of the book. “Zev’s Los Angeles” recounts Yaroslavsky’s family history, his UCLA student activism and forceful defense of Soviet Jews, and his election to the L.A. City Council at age 26, which spawned a long and consequential career in politics. Newton calls the memoir “a solid history, an insightful analysis of power and a sincere reflection on a life of service,” with fresh insights and behind-the-scenes details about key turning points in the region’s polity.

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Manville on Road Tolls: ‘There Is No Other Way to Reduce Congestion’

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Michael Manville, associate professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, spoke to the Los Angeles Times and KTLA and KNBC about an expected pilot program that would charge a toll on some Los Angeles roads. The program aims to ease traffic congestion, reduce carbon emissions and raise funds at a time when gas taxes are down due to the surge in electric vehicles. Manville said that revenues can and should be used to ensure that low-income drivers are not disproportionately burdened by the tolls. Some businesses are concerned that drivers who want to avoid paying freeway tolls will clog local roads; others argue that safety and convenience issues continue to surround many public transit options. Manville said charging a premium toll during peak hours would reduce traffic as well as the risk of crashes. “There is no other way to reduce congestion,” he said. “So you can do something like this or basically you can just live with congestion.”

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Watch the KTLA report
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