On-Going and Recent Projects

CSUSM Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS) Evaluation 2012 Fall

The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) was contracted to carry out the evaluation of the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program (CCAMPIS) at California State University San Marcos. The project will increase retention and graduation rates among low-income students who are receiving Pell grants.

Food Justice Initiative Mobile Food Pantry

Report by Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez

Many families in North San Diego County lack regular access to food, especially nutritious food options. The need is especially acute among low-income, farmworker, immigrant, and non-English speaking communities.

NLRC began increasing access to healthy food through coordination of the first Mobile Pantry in North San Diego County. In collaboration with Feeding America, The Leichtag Family Foundation, The Bravo Foundation, the Farmworker CARE Coalition, and community leaders or líderes comunitarios of Poder Popular para la Salud del Pueblo, NLRC is facilitating access to food to families in great need.

The Mobile Pantry is part of a wider county-wide initiative designed to increase access to healthier and more nutritious food for families living in low income and isolated communities who often have health-related problems associated with poor diet and food insecurity (i.e. diabetes, obesity, etc.). In partnership with Feeding America, NLRC and the lideres comunitarios created a list of food items that meet nutritional recommendations and are culturally appropriate. Families receive 1-2 loafs of bread, 4 canned items, 1 box of granola or other cereal, and a bag of produce. Each family receives about 20 lbs of food. Although we have created a list of preferred items, what families actually receive may vary at each distribution; sometimes they receive additional products such as water, diapers, and other stuff not commonly given at food banks. Many of the families who receive food from the Mobile Pantry were affected by the wildfires in 2007 and are still recovering from suffering loss of property, employment, etc. Therefore, any product extra items they receive are needed and welcomed. Feeding America covers the cost of food and travel and NLRC provides staffing for coordination of logistics, distributions and community outreach and education...

Download a MS Word copy of this report.

San Diego Healthy Homes Collaborative (SDHHC) 2010-2013

The grant funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and called the “San Diego Healthy Homes Collaborative” (SDHHC) was intended to address housing conditions that threaten the health of residents.  Specifically, the grant made it possible to identify environmental and safety hazards in the home and then implement cost effective measures, at no cost to the occupants, to create healthy homes for families and children. The program is available to residents of the City of San Diego.

As part of the SDHHC grant program, an evaluation has been conducted by the National Latino Research Center (NLRC) at California State University San Marcos.  The evaluation is intended to assess impact of interventions and evaluate the cost effectiveness of the SDHHC strategy in addressing health and safety hazards in San Diego’s housing stock.  A primary focus of the evaluation is to evaluate the level of reduction in asthmatic episodes created and to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program’s cost benefit achieved through the program’s education and renovation activities, and evaluate the sustainability of the these benefits.  

TRIO Student Support Services Program

TRIO at California State University San Marcos conducted a comprehensive evaluation to track and monitor completion of the project’s identified needs, objectives, and plan of operation.  The program evaluation incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

The National Latino Research Center (NLRC) was contracted to carry out the external evaluation including the qualitative portion of the TRIO evaluation along with some quantitative elements. The NLRC’s evaluation of TRIO utilizes a qualitative research model consisting of semi-structured surveys and focus groups with program participants. Using a reliable and culturally-sensitive approach, the research design will gather measurable baseline and process data. The evaluation is designed to involve a pre- and post-test administration of semi-structured surveys and focus groups/interviews with at least 50% of program participants.  

Universidad Popular

Universidad Popular es una iniciativa de educación popular diseñada para enseñar la historia de la comunidad, cultivar el liderazgo comunitario, y aumentar el nivel de participación cívica y social en nuestra comunidad.

Este curso es patrocinado por el colaborativo de La Corporación de Comunidades Transnacionales, El Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre Latinos (NLRC), y la Biblioteca del Condado de San Diego en Vista, California.  

Para más información, comuníquese con Ana Ardón al 760.750.3505.