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LPPI Co-Hosts Conference of Latino Elected Officials From Across the U.S.

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Elected officials from over a dozen different states, including state legislators, municipal and school district officials, gathered Aug. 3-5 at UCLA Luskin for a landmark conference co-hosted by the Latino Policy and Politics Initiative (LPPI). More than 60 elected officials were expected to participate in the first-ever National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) National Education Leadership and Public Policy Academy to learn about effective public policies that support Latino families and communities. NALEO Educational Fund and LPPI designed an innovative public policy curriculum to strengthen the governance capacity of Latino policymakers in the critical policy areas of education, economic development, criminal justice and immigration. “UCLA is ecstatic to partner with NALEO Educational Fund to empower Latino elected officials with the data and strategy necessary to address today’s most critical policy challenges and improve the well-being of Latinos from Connecticut to California,” said Sonja Diaz, LPPI’s executive director. The invitation-only intensive training featured modules created by LPPI faculty, with a cadre of national policy experts and practitioners from across the U.S. advancing evidence-based policymaking. Conference speakers included Diaz and her LPPI co-founders — UCLA Luskin Dean Gary Segura and Matt Barreto, professor of political science and Chicano/a Studies at UCLA — as well as LPPI-affiliated faculty such as Amada Armenta, who recently joined the faculty of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning. NALEO Educational Fund Executive Director Arturo Vargas also participated.

Santos Sees Developmental Science Through Intersectional Lens

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Social Welfare Assistant Professor Carlos Santos is the co-editor of the latest publication of the journal New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. Santos, who recently joined the UCLA Luskin faculty, is also a co-contributor to the special edition titled, “Envisioning the Integration of an Intersectional Lens in Developmental Science.” With a background in developmental psychology, Santos notes that he “adheres to the belief that developmental phenomena must be studied across diverse disciplines and perspectives,” and this project draws on the “largely interdisciplinary interpretive framework of intersectionality” — a view underscoring “how systems of oppression overlap to create inequities,” including heterosexism, racism, ableism or issues affecting those who are undocumented. His research has focused on gender and ethnic identities, stereotypes and their impacts on social adjustment, mental health and educational outcomes among adolescents and young adults in communities of color. Citing the relative lack of an intersectionality lens in the developmental sciences, Santos and co-author and editor Russell B. Toomey designed the publication to bring together developmental scientists who are actively incorporating intersectionality scholarship into their research. Each of the contributors was asked the following question: How can an intersectionality perspective inform the developmental phenomena of interest and particular developmental theories you draw upon in your area of research? “A lot of this piece is grappling with how to reinvent all of this to better capture the ways in which oppressions overlap. I really feel committed to that goal, to better understand that.”

Carlos Santos

Joint MPP/JD Student Argues in Federal Court

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A UCLA School of Law story highlighted Taylor de Laveaga, a joint Luskin School MPP and UCLA Law School student, who recently presented a constitutional case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Seattle, Washington. Just one year into her legal studies, de Laveaga introduced and presented arguments for a First Amendment case to the three-judge panel, each testing her on points of law relevant to the controversy. The case, Rynearson v. Ferguson, challenges Washington’s current law on cyberstalking. Without missing a step, de Laveaga — who prepared extensively for the case with UCLA Law professor Eugene Volokh — answered all of the judges’ questions and was cited by the court for an admirable first appearance in court.  “Your colleague has done a good job of presenting the case,” commented Senior Circuit Judge Richard Clifton to Volokh, who also participated.

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Carnesale Joins Board of California Council on Science and Technology

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The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) has added Albert Carnesale, UCLA chancellor emeritus and professor emeritus of public policy and mechanical and aerospace engineering to its Board of Directors. Also joining the board, which provides strategic vision and direction for CCST, is Alexandra Navrotsky of UC Davis. “Dr. Navrotsky and Dr. Carnesale have made exceptional contributions to their respective scientific fields and applications on the global stage,” said CCST Board Chair Charles F. Kennel in a news release. “Their deep insights and experiences into the societal importance of science and technology will greatly inform CCST’s mission and service to state leaders in California.” Carnesale joined UCLA in 1997 and was chancellor through 2006. He is the author or co-author of six books and more than 100 articles on a wide range of subjects, including national security strategy, arms control and nuclear proliferation. CCST is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that engages experts in science and technology to advise state policymakers.

Maps Show Gentrification, Displacement Policies

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The Center for Neighborhood Knowledge (CNK) at UCLA Luskin has updated its website to offer two important online resources: an inventory and map of anti-displacement policies in Los Angeles County, and a map of neighborhood change and gentrification in Southern California. The map of anti-displacement policies utilizes data collected between February and May of 2018, and it reflects CNK’s first step to highlight and better understand the policies that can promote affordability or mitigate displacement of vulnerable populations in gentrifying neighborhoods. Among the findings is the fact that despite a wide range of anti-displacement policies and strategies in Los Angeles County, their coverage is fragmented and implementation is not equitably distributed across jurisdictions. CNK’s urban displacement map reflects an update to a resource first provided in 2016. It focuses on understanding where neighborhood transformations are occurring and helps identify areas that are vulnerable to gentrification and displacement in both transit and non-transit neighborhoods. One of the key findings in this update is that the number of gentrified neighborhoods (based on census tracts) rose by 16 percent in Los Angeles County between 1990 and 2015.

 

From ITS: New Research on Lyft, Uber and Taxis in L.A.

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Policy Practice in Field Education Grant Received

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Laura Abrams, professor and chair of UCLA Luskin Social Welfare, and Sergio Serna of the field education faculty received a one-year policy practice in field education grant from the Council on Social Work Education totaling $18,500. This grant will enable Social Welfare students and faculty to make closer ties with local child welfare agencies to advocate for youth aging out of foster care, to learn more about the policymaking process and to forge lasting community relationships.

 

Study of Tobacco, Cannabis Use by LGBT Young Adults

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Ian Holloway

UCLA Luskin Social Welfare’s Ian Holloway has received word that another of his research proposals has been selected for funding. The study, “Tobacco and Cannabis Product Use Among Subgroups of Sexual and Gender Minority Emerging Adults,” will examine trajectories of tobacco and cannabis use among sexual and gender minority young people. Previous studies of tobacco products showed higher frequency of use within LGBT communities, but less is known about specific subgroups of LGBT people or their use of cannabis. Holloway, an associate professor, said the research is timely in the wake of California’s legalization of marijuana and other cannabis products in 2016, and he was happy to learn of the funding by the California Tobacco Related Disease Research Program during the month of June, which is Gay Pride month. “This funding will help us better understand tobacco and cannabis-related health disparities among LGBT young people, which is crucial to improve both short-term and long-term health in LGBT communities” Holloway said. The award amount of $400,000 will fund research in two phases, with initial results expected in about a year. Phase I will consist of qualitative interviews about tobacco and cannabis initiation and progression with LGBT tobacco users ages 18-29 in Los Angeles. In Phase II, 1,000 LGBT young people across California will participate in an online survey about their frequency and intensity of tobacco and cannabis product use. The research will be completed in partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

John Villasenor Launches Podcast on Cybersecurity

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UCLA Luskin Public Policy Professor John Villasenor has launched a new podcast focusing on today’s most pressing cybersecurity challenges. As host of “Cyberspectives,” Villasenor will draw on his work at the intersection of technology, policy, law and business to provide insight and analysis on the digital frontier. In the podcast’s inaugural episode, Villasenor interviewed Andrew Grotto, a former White House cybersecurity policy director in both the Obama and Trump administrations. Their conversation touched on emerging opportunities in the commercial cybersecurity sector and how the academic community can best contribute to the cyber policy dialogue. The “Cyberspectives” podcast was launched by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, where Villasenor is a visiting fellow.

Risks and Resiliencies of the Affordable Care Act

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A research article published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law by Mark A. Peterson, professor of public policy, political science and law, compares the “political vulnerability and resiliency” of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with the repeal of the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCAA) nearly three decades before. “The political-institutional contexts and the processes of coalition change could hardly have been more different for MCCA and ACA,” notes Peterson in his article, “Reversing Course on Obamacare: Why Not Another Medicare Catastrophic?” in the Duke University Press publication. “However, they had some shared vulnerabilities stemming from program design,” he argues. “The ACA survived the political weakness inherent in its policy attributes due to its particular balance and timing of benefits and costs and by being shielded long enough by election results and the constitutional separation of powers to have its benefits take root.” — Stan Paul