In partnership with the County of Sacramento Division of Social Services, ISR is conducting a study of local community-based organizations (CBOs). The study explores County and CBO partner relationships and provides insights into the critical role of CBOs in serving and reaching the diverse communities of Sacramento County. The goal of the study is to inform the County about ways in which to better foster the sustainability and capacity-building of CBOs in serving under-resourced communities.

The Anchor University Collaborative Research Fellowship Survey was conducted in partnership with community partners. The fellows developed fielded survey questions in Spring 2023 using the Institute for Social Research (ISR) Regional Survey Panel. The fellowships were funded by the Anchor University Initiative and the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Anchor University Collaborative Research Fellowships Report

In partnership with the Delta Stewardship Council, ISR surveyed residents of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to understand their perceptions of their local natural resources. The survey aims to better understand residents’ opinions and experiences about key social and environmental issues in the Delta region, including the community’s well-being and quality of life. Survey findings will be used to develop recommendations for policy makers on how to better serve the Delta communities.

The Yolo Food Bank has released the findings from the Yolo County Food Access Survey conducted in partnership with the Institute for Social Research. Nearly 4,000 households of Yolo County participated in this survey looking at the use of charitable food systems, access to culturally appropriate foods, CalFresh enrollment, and general food access. These report findings represents the first population-based and food bank-led survey of its kind in California. As the most impoverished County in the state, this survey found that nearly 1 in 3 households in Yolo County are food insecure.

Youth County Food Access Survey Report

In partnership with Valley Vision, ISR maintains a representative survey panel of the Sacramento region to conduct surveys to assess public attitudes on issues important to the region. Since 2017, Sacramento region residents have answered surveys about civic amenities, transportation, livability, and the environment. Survey results have informed policy recommendations to help ensure that regional priorities reflect public values, interests and needs. The Built Environment Poll, conducted in May 2023, is a comprehensive view of the public’s priorities with respect to their built environment, particularly transportation, housing, telework, perceptions of safety, and public health.

The Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce collaborated with ISR and other community partners to release the inaugural Hispanic Economic Report during National Hispanic Heritage month in 2021. This report provides a summary of the employment, economic, and socioeconomic status of the Hispanic population in the greater Sacramento region, as well as insights into the inequities that affect the Hispanic population and the Hispanic community's significant impact on the region's economy.

CEDA is a joint project of the Center for California Studies, the ISR and the Office of the California Secretary of State.

The purpose of CEDA is to provide researchers, citizens, public agencies and other interested parties with a single repository of local election data. CEDA summarizes candidate and ballot measure results for county, city, community college and school district elections in three separate reports that have been published annually since 1995. Electronic CEDA reports and data sets are publicly available through the Sacramento State library.

View the California Elections Data Archive

The California Department of Public Health, Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) is partnering with ISR to conduct qualitative research and policy analysis that will inform a statewide Public Health Policy Roadmap for Violence Prevention. This roadmap will inform California state and local decision-makers and public health practitioners about effective and promising public health policies and primary prevention strategies that address firearm violence and other forms of violence. ISR is collaborating with CDPH/VPI to conduct a literature review and policy landscape analysis; interview representatives from State agencies; survey local public health and behavioral health departments; and interview violence prevention specialists from across California and the US. In additon, ISR is partnering with community-based organizations to gather insights from community members about approaching firearm violence prevention efforts at the local level.

ISR partnered with the City of Sacramento Police Department and Office of Violence Prevention, as well as Rose Family Creative Empowerment Center, Brother 2 Brother Mentoring, and Shiloh Baptist Church to conducted four listening sessions in Sacramento communities with concentrated levels of gun violence. The purpose of the listening sessions was to hear directly from residents about their experiences with gun violence and policing and their recommendations to the Sacramento Police Department.

Gun Violence Listening Sessions Report

The CDPH Injury and Violence Prevention branch is partnering with ISR to better understand the unique cultural considerations for preventing sexual violence within focus populations in California. ISR is collaborating with community-based organizations to gather insights on how violence is manifested within different communities, what specific risk and preventive factors to consider, and how to approach prevention work to inform their violence prevention strategies.

ISR partnered with the local organization Community Against Sexual Harm (CASH) and RTI International to conduct a study to estimate prevalence of sex trafficking in Sacramento County. This is the first study to estimate the prevalence of sex trafficking in a California community. Study findings also provided insights on the nature and scope of sex trafficking in Sacramento County. Data collection efforts were guided by the expertise of a Survivor Advisory Council and were intended to inform a strategic, coordinated, multisystem response to sex trafficking—a response that can be useful for both prevention and intervention efforts.

Prevalence Study Dashboard

Estimating Sex Trafficking in Sacramento County Final Report

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) utilizes an upstream approach to violence prevention, which aims to address root causes to prevent violence from happening in the first place. In partnership with CDPH, ISR conducted an environmental scan to better understand strategies and barriers pertaining to economic supports and leadership opportunities for girls and women as an upstream violence prevention approach.

ISR continued this partnership with CDPH by following up one of the environmental scan’s recommendations – to more effectively convey economic supports as a strategy to prevent gender-based violence. This work will include developing a consumer-tested communications toolkit that highlights the connection between economic supports and violence prevention work and a resource guide for meaningful engagement with marginalized communities with a history of underinvestment.

The Youth Reinvestment Grant (YRG) program is administered by the CA Board of State and Community Corrections and is aimed at diverting youth in underserved communities from contact with the juvenile justice system. Local governments and community organizations have been awarded funds to provide academic and vocational services, case manager, mentoring, prosocial recreation, and behavioral and mental health services. ISR is serving as the statewide evaluator, designing the evaluation and providing technical assistance to YRG grantees, and collecting data from the YRG grantees, with an emphasis on the grant’s stated goals: reducing racial disparities and recidivism in the juvenile justice system.

ISR partnered with the Elk Grove Unified School District’s Research and Evaluation Department to evaluate Improve Your Tomorrow’s after-school services for young men of color to support their academic success. ISR implemented an independent process evaluation which assessed IYT’s program implementation and services, and the experiences of students and school administrators with the program.

The Gang Awareness & Prevention (GAP) program is a faith-based non-profit corporation under Victory Outreach of South Sacramento. The GAP program received the California Violence and Intervention (CalVIP) grant under the Board of State and Community Corrections with a goal of reducing violence in the city and adjacent areas. GAP aims to implement evidence-based violence reduction strategies and intervention programming to middle and high schools, in partnership with Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD). ISR is serving as the external evaluator: designing the evaluation, providing technical assistance, and assisting in creating the Local Evaluation Plan (LEP) & Local Evaluation Report (LER).

ISR partnered with the Child Abuse Prevention Center to produce the 2022 Children’s Report Card for the Sacramento County Children's Coalition. This report presents findings on child, youth, and family wellness indicators in five result areas: family economic well-being, education, health and wellness, safety, and social and emotional well‐being. ISR supported the report through the identification and collection of secondary data indicators.

2022 Report Card

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program, supports programs and amenities related to resident well-being. ISR, in partnership with Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), evaluated the Choice Neighborhood Implementation (CNI) grant for the Mirasol Village Housing Redevelopment project in Sacramento’s River District. Mirasol Village is a multi-block, mixed-income redevelopment of the previous public housing project, Twin Rivers. The process evaluation worked to understand if residents are being served as intended.

Sacramento Steps Forward is the leading agency in the Sacramento region focusing on issues surrounding homelessness.

In 2019, ISR collaborated with Sacramento Steps Forward on a biennial project, required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to collect and analyze specific data related to homeless individuals in the area. Through this partnership, policy and community s were provided data to be better equipped to implement practices that focus on reducing homelessness in Sacramento.

2019 Point in Time Report

2019 PIT Infographic

ISR is partnering with Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) to evaluate their SIMPL Project in the Promise Zone River District. The SIMPL Project is a collection of efforts from 15 project partners supported by $23 million from the Transformative Climate Community (TCC) Program and $68.4 million of leveraged projects. The Project engages the key strategies of equitable housing and neighborhood development, transit access and mobility, decarbonized energy, urban greening and green infrastructure, health and wellbeing.

SIMPL Annual Evaluation Report (2021-2022)

Case Study: Community Efforts Lead the Way in Sacramento's River District Plans

The Community and Local Equity Grants Unit (CLEGU) within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) administers two grant programs – the California Community Reinvestment Grants Program (CCRG) and the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdiction (CELJG). Both grant programs aim to be a resource to counteract the impacts from cannabis prohibition and the War on Drugs, which have disproportionately impacted economically under-developed communities and individuals of color. ISR is serving as the evaluation consultant for developing the statewide evaluation process for these grant programs.

The California Department of Aging (CDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education is focused on health promotion and obesity prevention for low income, older adults (60+). The CDA SNAP-Ed program is administered by 20 Area Agencies on Aging, utilizing policy, systems, and environmental change; and direct and indirect education to promote behavioral changes in their target population. The CDA contracted ISR to serve as the evaluation consultant for the SNAP-Ed program. The assessment of program outcomes is required by the US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, the original funding source for SNAP-Ed activities.

ISR is working with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to learn more about tobacco use among Californians. There are two main studies conducted annually for this project.

• Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) Tobacco Retail Survey. Each year ISR conducts a telephone survey of tobacco retailers across the state to learn more about their awareness and support of tobacco laws and taxes, as well as their perceptions on how these issues might impact their business.
• Young Adult Tobacco & E-Cigarette Purchase Survey. The Youth Tobacco Purchase Survey is a statewide data-collection effort conducted annually to capture the unlawful sales rate of tobacco to young adults under the age of 21. Researchers travel statewide with 18- and 19-year-old students to purchase tobacco products and conduct site observations of tobacco retailer outlets. The study data provides the official California’s sales rate of tobacco to minors for that particular year.

Sacramento State is the coordinator for all of the 23 CSU campuses participating in the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program: a National Science Foundation (NSF) program aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of under-represented minority students successfully completing programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The CSU-LSAMP program is now in its sixth phase (STEM Pathways and Research Alliance- or SPaRA). The ISR is responsible for the implementation of the CSU LSAMP project’s evaluation, including obtaining and analyzing student and institutional outcome measures.

The Achieving STEM Persistence through Interventions Related to Empowerment (ASPIRE) is a program of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Sacramento State. The project leverages NSF-developed resources to increase retention and decrease time to graduate for STEM students and increases retention of women and underrepresented minorities in the STEM workforce. ASPIRE builds on previous success of two NSF funded projects: The Sacramento State Peer-Assisted Student Success (PASS) Program and the Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program. ISR serves as the external evaluator for this program.

Sustainable Interdisciplinary Research to Inspire Undergraduate Success II (SIRIUS II) is a project of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Sacramento State. SIRIUS II strengthens the retention rate of underrepresented minorities and women in STEM. Additionally, the project improves the integration of transfer students to four-year institutions by incorporating Authentic Learning Experiences (ALEs) to benefit STEM students in Sacramento State and the Los Rios Community College District. SIRIUS II builds on the achievements of SIRIUS I project at Sacramento State, which led to the design, implementation, and integration of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in biology, chemistry, geology and environmental studies departments. SIRIUS II is expanding that model to engage mathematics, statistics, geography, physics, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, and computer science departments. Furthermore, the faculty networks and knowledge gained from the project will be used generate new knowledge about Northern California’s water ecosystems. ISR is serving as the external evaluator for this project.

The Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) Cooperative Grant is aimed at improving graduation rates for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander transfer students with six community colleges: San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, Sierra College in Rocklin, American River College, Folsom Lake College, Sacramento City College, and Cosumnes River College. The grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and ISR is serving as the external evaluator. ISR is responsible for developing an evaluation work plan for the project, administering student surveys, providing technical assistance, and supporting in reporting needs.

The STEM4Equity Project at Sacramento State is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Post-Secondary Education in the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division. The project is built on prior successes to increase attainment of STEM degrees by Hispanic and low-income students by implementing systemic curricular change and customized student support. ISR is serving as the external evaluator for the project and is responsible for evaluating the project’s goals, objectives, and outcomes stated in the grant that includes student success, student support, transfer pathway, and workforce development.

Assembly Bill (AB) 60 (Stats. 2013, Ch. 524) – the Safe and Responsible Drivers Act – authorized the California Department of Motor Vehicles to issue an original driver license to persons with undocumented legal status in the United States, effective January 2015.

Given the potential impacts of AB 60 to lower both the percentage of unlicensed and uninsured motorists, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) contracted with ISR to better understand how the passage of AB60 may have affected a number of key outcomes, including the number of driver licenses issued, the number of applicants to CDI’s California Low Cost Auto (CLCA) insurance program, the percentage of uninsured motorists, including those involved in collisions and hit‐and‐run incidents.