Future Annual Strategic Research Plan Learning Activities

The County’s work is ever-changing. Programs evolve, community needs shift, and new opportunities for learning emerge. To keep pace with this change, we have identified a set of nine additional high-priority Learning Agenda questions that have not yet been answered that will guide future research and evaluation efforts. These questions emerged through extensive input from County departments, the public and other stakeholders.

Each question was selected because it:

  • Aligns with public input.
  • Supports efficient resource allocation.
  • Reflects Board of Supervisors’ priorities.
  • Has strong potential to give decision-makers the data, information, and analysis they need to improve County services and programs.

These questions reflect the County’s commitment to building an evidence-based decision-making culture and answering important questions that will enable us to provide more effective and efficient programs and services to residents.

Learning Activities will be developed for the following Learning Agenda questions:

  • C-3. To what extent do graduates of the Library High School Program experience positive changes in their future formal education, career advancement, or earnings?
  • C-4. How has the two-year Childcare Blueprint changed the County childcare system?
  • EM-1. What County data is most relevant to the community, and to what extent is it available, accessible, and usable?
  • EM-2. How can the County make it easier and faster for residents to learn about and access services?
  • EM-3. How can internally facing County departments make processes more efficient so other departments can better use their services?
  • EQ-5. What outreach methods are most effective for increasing awareness of and participation in Medi-Cal by older adults age 60+?
  • J-3. What effect do behavioral health crisis interventions have on law enforcement resources and client outcomes?
  • S-2. To what extent do alternative strategies for green infrastructure project procurement and implementation impact the speed, quality, and co-benefits delivered (e.g., social, economic, and environmental) in comparison to traditional methods?
  • S-3. How can the County most effectively meet regional, state, and federal goals in the Regional Decarbonization Framework?

How Future Learning Activities Will Be Developed

The Office of Evaluation, Performance, and Analytics (OEPA), in collaboration with County departments, will take an iterative and responsive approach to developing new Learning Activities. Questions will be prioritized and scoped based on several factors. Those include: department readiness and capacity; policy and operational priorities; program maturity; direction from the Board of Supervisors or County Chief Administrative Officer; resource availability; and public demand.

To make it easier for the County to answer these important questions and to build our organizations’ capacity for evaluation, OEPA will:

  • Co-design projects with departments, which will encourage them to lead or support the implementation of Learning Activities.
  • Distribute projects based on complexity, timing, and resource availability.
  • Build evaluation models that departments can easily duplicate, adapt and use on their own.
  • Establish opportunities for collaboration with external researchers and universities that want to do work that has direct impacts on local government.

In line with its mandate from the County Board of Supervisors, OEPA is working towards embedding evaluation into the very core of County operations, transforming it from a periodic activity into a core practice. This shift will support a culture of learning, accountability, and data-informed decision-making into everyday work.

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