Pacific

Building a Community-Focused Path to Re-entry
Approximately 40,000 adults are under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. To help these individuals successfully reintegrate into communities, the department is working to increase community engagement, peer mentorship, and access to comprehensive wraparound services for justice-involved individuals. To advance these efforts, FUSE Executive Fellow Amy Cross... Read more
Advancing a Behavioral Economics Approach to Child Support Compliance
The Los Angeles County Child Support Services (CSS) is working to enforce child support orders, including the collection of monies, to help positively affect the financial stability of the children it serves. To improve payment compliance and the customer experience, CSS brought in FUSE Executive Fellow Amanda Wang Valentine, who... Read more
Coordinating Social Services to Reduce Recidivism
The Los Angeles County Probation Department seeks to reduce the financial and societal cost of recidivism by helping people reintegrate more effectively into their communities after prison. To support that goal, the department enlisted FUSE executive fellow Barry Goldberg to assess how county agencies involved in re-entry can coordinate to improve... Read more
Enhancing the Child Support System
Conventional child support systems rely heavily on a blanket set of punitive measures to help ensure that families receive the financial support to which they are legally entitled. Los Angeles County is taking a different approach, one that seeks to tailor child support interventions to the circumstances of each case... Read more
Communicating Health Services
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) offers emergency, primary, and specialty care, while serving as the healthcare safety net for the county’s most vulnerable residents. Medicaid expansion has increased competitive pressure on the department, which already struggles with outdated public perceptions of the system’s scope and quality.... Read more
Using Strategic Marketing to Bolster Social Services
The Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) has been working to extend the outreach and impact of its services, which include connecting individuals and employers, ensuring the well-being of older and dependent adults, improving human relations, and reducing hate crime. To advance these goals,... Read more
Raising Funds for Green Spaces
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has been working to broaden funding sources for expanded community services. The aim is to be able to offer diverse, accessible, and equitable programs independent of fluctuations in funds allocated by the county due to changing economic conditions, especially in... Read more
Enhancing Park Services Through Grants
Availability and access to urban parks promotes the health and well-being of communities, while also supporting ecosystems, stormwater capture, and urban forestry. To expand park and recreational space in historically underserved neighborhoods, the Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District (RPOSD) wanted to create a Technical Assistance Program... Read more
Applying Human-Centered Design to Improve Workforce Services
The Los Angeles County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services (WDACS) provides services to connect the most historically vulnerable populations in the County with high-quality jobs and careers. FUSE Executive Fellow Patrick Koppula applied a human-centered design approach to help WDACS integrate and deliver services at key moments... Read more
Improving Outcomes for Justice-Involved Youth
The Juvenile Services Division (JSD) of the Los Angeles County Probation Department is responsible for the well-being and safety of approximately 6,000 justice-involved youths. Providing trauma-informed programming to support the development of these youths, whether they are in probation facilities or the community, is one of its primary goals. FUSE... Read more