Past Projects

The following is a partial list of projects completed by ISR:

1. Environmental Issues
1. California Department of Pesticide Regulation (2005) - 2004 California School Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Statewide Survey of public school districts conducted in response to the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (HSA). (Report)
2. The American River Natural History Association (2005) - American River Parkway Survey to estimate the percentage of residents within the study region who use the Parkway.  (Report)
3. California Department of Conservation (2005) - Outreach Evaluation of the promotion of recycling and recycled products.
4. California Department of Conservation PANDA (2005) – A review of the literature on best practices in curbside recycling California.
5. California Air Resources Board (2003-2005) - Estimation of Portable Fuel Container Ownership and Use.
6. Portable Outboard Marine Tank (OMT) Telephone Survey (2007) - This survey was conducted as part of the California Air Resources Board’s study of portable outboard marine tanks (OMTs). OMTs are used to supply fuel to outboard marine engines. Statewide uncontrolled emissions from OMTs are currently estimated at 4 to 8 tons per day. The ISR is conducted a statewide telephone survey of outboard boat and sailboat owners. Based on the survey results, the ISR computed estimates of the number of OMTs statewide and analyzed OMT use characteristics. This information is used to refine the ARB’s existing estimates of statewide emissions. (Report)
7. Assessment of Public Education and Outreach Programs for the Used Oil Recycling Program (2007) – The California Integrated Waste Management Board’s (CIWMB) Used Oil Block Grant Program provides grants to support local used oil recycling programs.  More than 250 grantees from jurisdictions throughout California participate in the program each year.  Public education and outreach are an important part of these programs.  The ISR is conducting an independent analysis of grantees’ past public education and outreach programs promoting used oil and filter recycling to Do-It-Yourself oil changers.  The ISR will determine which public education and strategies have been the most effective.  (Report)


2. Health
1. Eskaton (1995) - Evaluations of Sacramento Skilled Nursing Facilities, Intermediate Care Facilities, and Retirement Housing.
2. California Board of Registered Nursing (1997) - Survey of Licensed Registered Nurses in California.
3. California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (1998) - Survey of Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and Certified Nurse Midwives, for the .
4. California Department of Health Services, Office of Aids (1998-1999) - CARE Consortium Evaluation. 
5. California Rural American Indian Health Board.
6. California Department of Health Services, Children’s Medical Services (1994 to 1998) - California Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System Trend Analysis.
7. California Respiratory Care Practitioner Workforce Study - (2007) This project was designed in response to the Respiratory Care Board of California's need to plan and prepare for a potential shortage of Respiratory Care Practitioners (RCPs) in California and to consider future direction for the RCP education and certification requirements. The project involved surveying three groups: RCPs, Respiratory Care educational programs, and RCP employers. The study profiles the RCP workforce and forecasts future supply and demand for RCPs in California during the next decade. The study also examines the impact of possible changes to educational and examination requirements and includes models and recommendations. (Report)

 

3. Law/Criminal Justice
1. National Institute of Justice (1998) - Sacramento Arrestee and Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM).
2. Sacramento Police Department’s Regional Community Policing Institute (1997) - Evaluation of the effectiveness of community oriented policing workshops.
3. National Institute of Justice (1999) - Sacramento Batterer/Drug Intervention.
4. Sacramento County Sheriff's Department - Survey of job satisfaction and stress among corrections and patrol officers.


4. Social Services
1. In 2003, ISR completed a legislatively mandated evaluation of the licensing of engineers in California, determining whether there was a justification for California's distinction between the "practice act" disciplines of civil, electrical and mechanical engineering and the remaining "title act" disciplines. The study resulted in a set of recommendations for restructuring the licensing of engineers in the state.
2. California Department of Social Services, Division of Community Care Licensing (1999) - A workload study of the state's 450 Licensing Program Analysts pursuant to a revision of the budgeting standard that funds this expanding program.
3. In cooperation with The Results Group, ISR evaluated the California Department of Social Services Administrative Adjudications Division's State Hearing process from 1992 to 1994, assisting in the design of a streamlined process to handle the increasing number of hearing requests in the state's social programs. Follow-up work for AAD involved a time study of the Administrative Law Judges' hearing and decision-writing activities in order to distribute fair hearing costs between two state agencies: the Departments of Health and Social Services.
4. Sacramento Convention and Visitor's Bureau (1991-1992 & 1996-1997) - Surveys of Visitors to Sacramento
5. University of California, Davis Center for Cooperatives (1992-1994) - How Californians See Cooperatives.
6. California Department of Social Services In-Home Supportive Services Division (1994-1995) -Evaluation of Managed Care in Tulare County.
7. California Department of Social Services In-Home Supportive Services Division (1996) - The Functional Index as an Hour Predictor.
8. California Department of Social Services, Prevention and Children Services Branch (1996) - Early Start Program Survey.
9. Sacramento County Food Stamps Eligible Population Estimate - Sacramento County is in the process of developing performance measures for it programs in Department of Human Assistance. One of the indicators of success is the percentage of County residents who are eligible to receive food stamps that are actually receiving them (a measure of hunger prevention). There are two key factors that go into this computation - income and immigrant status. The first is that Food Stamps is an income-eligible program; people below poverty level are eligible. The determination of eligible residents using this criterion is not too difficult. The second issue, being a citizen or a legal immigrant is more difficult (undocumented immigrants are not eligible for food stamps). The Institute for Social Research is engaged in a project with the County to develop a model for estimating how many otherwise eligible individuals are excluded from participating in the food stamp program due to being illegal immigrants.
10. California Department of Social Services In-Home Supportive Services Enhancement Initiative - The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) was awarded a Real Choice Systems Change grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CDSS has contracted with the ISR to carry out the majority of the grant’s activities. Called the IHSS Enhancement Initiative, the grant's goal is to develop educational materials for IHSS consumers and providers that will be shared with the state's counties and public authorities. Project activities include: (1) Performance of an assessment of the need for training among IHSS consumers and providers; (2) Inventory of existing training materials for consumers and providers; (3) Development of new educational materials and revision of existing materials to serve the needs of both IHSS consumers and providers. (Materials)