An infographic provides an overview of Transformative Justice of Williamson County, a program designed to assist qualifying participants who have entered the criminal justice system by coordinating health and social services to improve health outcomes and reduce recidivism.

The research team includes the Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) at Texas A&M University, Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Click here to download the infographic.

A new evidence brief focuses on the extent to which cross-sector collaborations are occurring across public health and social services sectors by examining the depth and breadth of social service engagement in public health activities. The S4A intramural team at the Colorado School of Public Health uses NALSYS data for this study.

S4A investigators at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health created a novel initiative in 2012, Housing for Health (HFH), with a three-pronged mission:

(1) to end homelessness in L.A. County, (2) to reduce the need for costly medical care services, and (3) to improve health outcomes for people experiencing housing insecurity.

The initiative provides permanent supportive housing programming (housing placement, financial subsidies, and supportive services) to homeless individuals who are high-utilizers of county-provided health services.

Click here to read the Estimating Cross-Sector Impacts of Permanent Supportive Housing in Los Angeles evidence brief and learn about lessons learned from a housing program seeking to promote care coordination across service delivery sectors.

The Systems for Action intramural team explores the intersection of law enforcement and public health using National Longitudinal Survey of Public Health Systems (NALSYS) data. They investigate the extent to which law enforcement agencies are currently engaged in local public health networks and how this engagement varies across communities.

Click here to read the Using Network Science to Explore Pathways for Reducing Policing-Attributable Health Problems & Inequities evidence brief.

Overview

The Whole Person Care Pilot (WPC) program coordinates medical, behavioral, and social services to improve the health and well-being of Medi-Cal beneficiaries with complex needs. S4A investigators Nadereh Pourat, Emmeline Chuang and team analyze data from the interim statewide evaluation of WPC to present a snapshot of the 25 participating pilots, based on key implementation strategies and enrollee characteristics. They share their findings in this UCLA Center for Health Policy Research health policy brief.

Pourat N, O’Masta B, Haley LA, Chuang E. 2021. A Snapshot of California’s Whole Person Care Pilot Program: Implementation Strategies and Enrollees. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

Cross-sector collaboration and systems alignment can address social determinants of health, improve family well-being and create a more equitable society. The Building Wealth and Health Network (The Network) is a trauma-informed workforce development program addressing both behavioral and financial health. It was created in an effort to align Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid. Read the research brief by S4A investigators at Drexel University's Center for Hunger-Free Communities to learn about the challenges, and proposed solutions, to systems alignment.

For more information about this work, please see the following article: Weida EB, Egan V, Chilton M (2020). How trauma-informed programming to treat social determinants unveils challenges to systems alignment. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. In press.

The Housing for Health (HFH) was launched by S4A investigators at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in 2012 with the aim of providing permanent supportive housing to individuals experiencing homelessness identified as frequent users of health services.

Published in the Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, "A qualitative evaluation of Housing for Health in Los Angeles County" uses data from 14 qualitative interviews with senior leaders and nine focus groups with tenants and program staff to understand tenant experiences with HFH and non-HFH programs, as they relate to care coordination.

Access the article here.

The Systems for Action intramural team explores the dynamics of effective public health governing boards, especially in a critical time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here to read the Local Boards of Health evidence brief.

Overview

S4A investigators based at the Bloomberg School of Public Health publish spending trends in eight categories of public health activity from 2008 through 2018, and find state governmental public health spending saw no statistically significant growth between these years (except in injury prevention). Furthermore, they find state spending levels on public health were not restored after cuts experienced during the Great Recession, which left states inadequately prepared to respond to the pandemic as well as other emerging health needs.

To read "US Public Health Neglected: Flat or Declining Spending Left States Ill Equipped to Respond to COVID-19" in Health Affairs, click here.

doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01084 HEALTH AFFAIRS 40, NO. 4 (2021)

Overview

S4A investigator David Bishai and team help explain South Korea’s pre-existing capabilities which enabled the rapid and effective implementation of its COVID-19 control strategies, including its health system governance, financing, and regulatory capability honed during the 2015 MERS epidemic.

Read the full article in Health Policy.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.02.011