Research Services

• Monterey County Health Department, Behavioral Health Bureau
• Monterey County Public Defender’s Office
• Monterey County Health Department — Policy, Evaluation, and Planning Unit
• Monterey County Department of Social Services
• Monterey County Administrative Office, Cannabis Program
• Santa Cruz County Health Department
• Santa Cruz County Department of Human Services
• Regional Nonprofits and Private Organizations
• Aspire Health
• Central California Alliance for Health
• United Way of Monterey County
• Navidad Medical Center
• Blue Shield of California

• California Department of Public Health
• California Board of State and Community Corrections
• California Department of Social Services — Office of Child Abuse Prevention

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — Office of Minority Health

This project aims to address the historic unmet need for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, specialty mental health (MH) services and supportive services in South County, in an effort to decrease nonviolent offenders’ risks for subsequent incarceration and to treat behavioral health disorders among people with co-occurring disorders to reduce the need for more frequent and costly hospitalizations, jail-bookings, entitlement benefits and supportive services.

Specifically, the project is designed to:

1. Reduce recidivism by linking the reclassified and target population to services and supports.
2. Divert individuals with behavioral health needs from the criminal justice system.
3. Reduce regional inequity by assuring access to substance use treatment.

ICCS serves as the evaluation team on the project, working to identify and report on progress toward achieving the outcomes outlined above.

The Public Defender’s Office (PDO) Effecting Change in Circumstances (ECC) project continues efforts from Cohorts 1, 2 and 3 by providing diversion and support services to justice-involved adults and youth experiencing mental health or substance use disorders (SUD) in Monterey County.

The project aims to address existing service gaps that lead to unnecessary delays and difficulties in delivering diversion services for participants who have been arrested, charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor or non-violent felony.

The project also seeks to address the underlying causes of unlawful behavior by altering conditions that lead to legal problems, by improving participants’ quality of life and supporting their (re)integration into society, thus supporting the BSCC’s primary objective for the Prop 47 funding cycles which is reducing  their risk for recidivism.

Health literacy is an issue affecting almost all Americans, with 9 out of 10 reporting difficulty navigating the sometimes technical, unfamiliar and complicated health information disseminated by health care providers, the media, businesses and government offices.

When information is difficult to interpret or comprehend, individuals are less likely to seek preventive care and more likely to experience poor health outcomes. The Monterey County Health Department (MCHD) aimed to address these concerns through implementation of the Monterey County Health Literacy project, utilizing community health workers to target outreach to those populations most at-risk of experiencing low health literacy and other health disparities, including COVID-19; populations of focus included Spanish-speaking, Latinx and indigenous groups and African Americans.

ICCS served as the evaluation team on this project, working to determine whether the target populations are being reached, whether providers are incorporating culturally and linguistically appropriate standards into their practice, and identifying changes in COVID-19 testing and vaccination rates as well as case, hospitalization and fatality rates.

ICCS researchers were responsible for conducting the cannabis equity assessment in collaboration with the Monterey County Cannabis Program and community stakeholders; the results of which are being used to inform the creation of its county-wide cannabis equity program.

This project included research into local historical rates of arrests or convictions for cannabis law violations; the identification of the impacts cannabis-related policies have had historically on local communities and populations within the county; and recommendations for supporting individuals and communities that have been disproportionately or negatively impacted by the War on Drugs.

This project examined how seasonal poverty patterns in Monterey County impact child maltreatment reports. Through analysis of benefits and child welfare data, the study identified chronic, seasonal and occasional poverty trends and explored their connection to child welfare outcomes.

The findings aim to inform local policy and support the development of targeted programs that better meet the needs of families living in seasonally unstable economic conditions.

With funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ICCS conducted an evaluation of the Monterey County Health Department’s initiatives to improve health literacy and COVID‑19-related health outcomes in underserved communities during the pandemic. The evaluation assessed program reach, implementation and outcomes to inform future public health strategies.