The California Policy Lab

Infograph says "WE'RE HIRING and Policy Director" and also has the California Policy Lab logo and a photo of the California Capitol Building in Sacramento.

We're hiring a policy director in our new Sacramento office - first review date is this Friday, Oct. 10th: capolicylab.org/careers/poli...

Policy research folks take note - CPL's research is very influential in California state policy and this high-impact role will help expand that influence. Consider applying and share with your networks!

Some clarity on impact of justice reforms Last week, the Committee on Revision of the Penal Code and California Policy Lab published a report looking at the recidivism rates of people resentenced under some of the state’s major criminal ju…

"The more clear data we have, the better. Without data to appropriately analyze what’s working or what isn’t, we’re left doing justice policy via competing slogans and vibes."
Today's editorial by the @ocregister.bsky.social on CPL's Second Look Research Series: www.ocregister.com/2025/10/01/s...

Lot's of exciting developments at the California Policy Lab:
-> We're hiring a policy director
-> We were awarded a Public Impact Research Award
-> New research on #CJreform, #Labor, #Studentdebt, and #Nudging, and more
Learn more in our monthly update: capolicylab.org/newsletter/c...

Please share with your networks: The California Policy Lab is hiring a policy director to amplify our policy impact in Sacramento. We're looking for a seasoned policy professional with deep experience in California state government. First review date is Oct. 10th: capolicylab.org/careers/poli...

New Report Finds California’s Second Look Resentencing Policies Lead to Lower Recidivism, Especially for Long-Term Prisoners - Davis Vanguard California's "second look" resentencing reforms have resulted in low rates of reoffending and have saved the state money, with long-serving individuals released under these policies having remarkably ...

"The study is the first to pull together statewide data to examine who has benefited from these resentencing laws and how they fared after leaving prison." #CJReform #California
davisvanguard.org/2025/09/cali...

California shrank its prisons with sentencing changes. A new study shows how that's working California adopted major sentencing changes under Govs. Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown. A new report provides the first in-depth look at how they’re working.

This in-depth @calmatters.org article shares findings from the research, and reactions from experts in the CJ field: calmatters.org/justice/2025...

New Research on People Released from Prison Under California’s Second Look Resentencing Policies - California Policy Lab Berkeley, CA, September 24, 2025 — A comprehensive series of reports released today by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab (CPL) and Committee on Revision of the Penal Code focuses on “second look” ...

The California Policy Lab published a new research series this week, focused on 5 "second look" policies in California. About 12,000 people have been resentenced under these 5 reforms, and 9,500 have been released from prison: capolicylab.org/news/new-res... #CJReform #CaLeg #California

Californians are falling behind on student loan payments — and most ‘delinquents’ aren’t who you’d expect Newly revealed data shows that hundreds of thousands of Californians are struggling to make their monthly student loan payments.

11% of California student loan borrowers are 30+ days late on making their payments, according to a new California Policy Lab fact sheet: laist.com/news/educati... #CaLeg #PersonalFinance #StudentDebt #StudentLoans #California

Shape the future of APPAM! Nominate yourself or a colleague for the 2026 Policy Council. Deadline: Sept. 12. Details here: ow.ly/OYmu50WViiV

New paper alert!

The @capolicylab.bsky.social and @thepeoplelab.bsky.social partnered with the CA Dept of Social Services and @codeforamerica.org to help low-income Californians find out about and claim tax credits and pandemic stimulus payments, and to learn what works in outreach.

One week until this job posting closes.

Do dope research, serve the great state of California.

Join us.

Photo of Royce Hall on UCLA's campus, with heading that reads: "California Policy Lab Wins 2025 Public Impact Research Award" and a quote from Prof. Till von Wachter: “We’re grateful for UCLA’s recognition of our mission to turn research into real-world impact. From showing how the LA wildfires affected workers to pioneering predictive models that prevent homelessness, our north star has always been the public benefit of our research work. I accept this award also on behalf of Janey Rountree, the executive director of our UCLA site, our staff, our partners, and the funders who make this possible.”

We have exciting news to share: The California Policy Lab won a 2025 Public Impact Research Award! capolicylab.org/news/califor...

Report finds LA wildfires led to spike in unemployment claims around the county Jobs in food services, health care and social assistance most impacted

Professor Till von Wachter spoke with Spectrum 1 News about CPL's recent report showing that about 11,000 LA residents filed for unemployment after the January wildfires: spectrumnews1.com/ca/southern-... #LosAngeles

A GIF shows key findings from a report about unemployment insurance claims filed after the LA wildfires and quotes from two of the co-authors of the report.

A new California Policy Lab report shows an est. 11,000 people filed for unemployment insurance because of the L.A. wildfires in January: capolicylab.org/unemployment... #LosAngeles #CaLeg #California

Data Engineer Looking to make a difference? Join our strong and mighty workforce. We offer benefits and growth opportunities and impact the lives of millions of Californians.

Our research shop at the CA Dept of Social Services is #hiring for a Principal Data Enigneer

calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/...

Posting closes 9/8. Please help us spread the word!

This position will build data pipelines for our in-house research and analytics.

A GIF shows segments from an LAist article about Los Angeles County's Homelessness Prevention Unit, and a new report showing promising early findings about outcomes for people enrolled in the program.

David Wagner with LAist/KPCC wrote earlier this month about our latest report on the Homelessness Prevention Unit pilot in LA. Early results are promising. laist.com/news/housing...

What Have We Learned? Takeaways From the California Policy Lab’s Research on College Student Participation in SNAP - ARCC Network Jennifer Hogg shares takeaways from California Policy Lab's research into college student participation in California's SNAP program.

"Higher education administrators have grown increasingly concerned with high rates of food insecurity among students, and in response, they have ramped up efforts to connect eligible students to SNAP." ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/arccnetwork/... #HigherEducation #CalFresh #California

Today at 10am: Learn more about how companies can "cut hours, instead of jobs" using short-time compensation as an alternative to layoffs: www.minneapolisfed.org/events/2025/...

⭐ Important report from @capolicylab.bsky.social on pilot data from homelessness prevention project

🔑 to homelessness prevention is ID ppr w highest risk, finding them, using evidence based interventions to as many as possible. They did that! RCT results to come.
⬇️ Read the report!
lnkd.in/gsYMDiEW

Early Outcomes from the Los Angeles County Homelessness Prevention Unit - California Policy Lab This stud

More research is on the way, including randomized control trial results in 2027. For now, these early signs are encouraging, and show what’s possible when systems invest in smart targeted prevention.
Read the report: bit.ly/HPUreport (11/11) END

“The early signs from HPU suggest we’re on the right track. This is a powerful model for what targeted, data-informed support can achieve in preventing homelessness.” - Max Stevens, Chief Analytics Officer at Los Angeles County Chief Information Office. (10/11)

Why this matters: Most homelessness prevention programs serve those already in crisis. HPU flips that script, acting early, with data-informed precision.
“This is what smart homelessness prevention can look like.” - Janey Rountree, California Policy Lab (9/11)

a time series line graph beginning in quarter 2 of calendar year 2022 and extending through quarter 3 of calendar year 2024. The graph shows how quarterly enrollment rates changed over time for single adults, families, and both household types combined. Single adults increased steadily over time from quarter 1 of calendar year 2023 through quarter 2 of calendar year 2024, going from 18% to 40%, with a slight dip back down to 34% in the final quarter. Families increased steadily over time from quarter 3 of calendar year 2022 through quarter 4 of calendar year 2023, going from 24% to 49%, with a slight dip back down to 44% in quarter 1 of calendar year 2023 followed by slight increases through to the last quarter ending at 47%. Overall, you see a very similar trend as single adults, with families bringing up the overall enrollment rate in each quarter. The figure also marks when significant changes to the HPU were implemented: the launch of the outreach team in Q3 of 2023, changes to the discharge policy in Q1 of 2024, and expansion of the outreach team in Q2 of 2024.

The rate of enrollment increased by 67% during the formal evaluation period, after process improvements and a dedicated outreach team was created. That outreach has been one of the hardest, but most vital, parts of the program. (8/11)

“This model helps us reach people before they experience a crisis. It’s smart, effective, and compassionate.” – Dana Vanderford, LA County DHS (7/11)

Launched in 2021, the HPU is a collaboration between
@capolicylab.bsky.social, LA County Health Services,
and the LA Chief Information Office. So far, 1,498 people have been served—and 86% self-report they retained housing upon completing the program. (6/11)

Once identified, high-risk residents are offered tailored, intensive support:
➡️Financial assistance (avg. $6.4K)
➡️Help accessing jobs, health care, and essentials
➡️A case manager providing intensive, tailored support (5/11)

This figure provides outcomes for the enrolled group (N = 335) and regression adjusted outcomes for the non-enrolled group (N = 1,285) within 18 months of being referred to HPU outreach. The regression adjusted outcomes are estimated using an OLS regression controlling for all covariates in Table 2 of the Appendix plus interacted fixed effects for month, household type, and Spanish language status. Numbers above the brackets represent percentage changes for the enrolled group in comparison to the regression adjusted non-enrolled group. Asterisks next to variable names indicate the statistical significance of differences between the enrolled and regression adjusted non-enrolled groups where **: p < 0.01 and *: p < 0.05.

Key findings: People enrolled in the HPU program were 71% less likely to enter a homeless shelter or have contact with street outreach teams within 18 months, compared to similar high-risk people who didn’t enroll. (4/11)

Given interest in the HPU, we’re sharing these preliminary results now, and we’re also conducting a randomized control trial and we expect to share those results in 2027. (3/11)

The Homelessness Prevention Unit (HPU) doesn’t wait for people to ask for help. It uses a first-of-its-kind predictive model, developed by @capolicylab.bsky.social, to identify who is most at risk before they lose housing. (2/11)