This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the effectiveness of California’s CalAIM Medicaid Waiver program in integrating social service and public health organizations into Medicaid coordinated systems of care for individuals with complex health and social needs.  CalAIM is designed to dismantle forms of structural racism by investing nearly $2 billion in helping Medicaid health plans and medical providers forge stronger alliances with local social service organizations and public health agencies in addressing the complex health and social needs of Medicaid beneficiaries, including paying for nonmedical services needed by these beneficiaries.  The study uses a sequential mixed-method research design to assess how well CalAIM succeeds in integrating social service and public health organizations into Medicaid systems of care, with a specific focus on organizations serving Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other persons of color. Activities include a survey of community organizations in 20 counties combined with in-depth case studies in five counties, , as well as a learning collaborative of 211s and other similar organizations.  The study is conducted by the University of California at San Francisco in collaboration with 211 San Diego, United Way local affiliates, Health Leads, and other community partners.    

Principal Investigator

• Caroline Fichtenberg, PhD
  Co-Director
  Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network, Center for Health & Community, University of California San Francisco

Co-Investigator

• Laura Gottlieb, MD, MPH
  Co-Director 
  Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network, Center for Health & Community, University of California San Francisco

Project Partners

• Danielle Hessler Jones, PhD
  Co-Director 
  Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network, Center for Health & Community, 
  Professor and Vice-Chair for Research, Department of Family and Community Medicine 
  University of California San Francisco

• Karis Grounds, MPH
  Vice-President, Health and Community Impact

  2-1-1 San Diego