Characterizing the Landscape of Safety Net Programs and Policies in California during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kaitlyn E. Jackson, Joseph Yeb, Wendi Gosliner, Lia C. H. Fernald and Rita Hamad
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Kaitlyn E. Jackson: Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Joseph Yeb: Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Wendi Gosliner: Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Oakland, CA 94607, USA
Lia C. H. Fernald: Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Rita Hamad: Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-8

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid and innovative policymaking around the world at the national, regional, and local levels. There has been limited work to systematically document and characterize new and expanded local U.S. pandemic-era policies, which is imperative to better understand the policy variation and resulting health impacts during this unprecedented time. California, the most populous U.S. state, provides a case example of a particularly active policy response. The aim of this Brief Report is to summarize the creation and potential areas of application of a newly created publicly available California- and US-based COVID-19 policy database. We generated an extensive list of California and US policies that were modified or created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. From July–November 2021, we searched current and historical California and federal government websites, press releases, social media, and news sources and recorded detailed information on these policies, including coverage dates, eligibility criteria, and benefit amounts. This comprehensive dataset includes 39 public health, economic, housing, and safety net programs and policies implemented at both federal and state levels and provides details of the complex and multifaceted policy landscape in California from March 2020 to November 2021. Our database is publicly available. Future investigators can leverage the information systematically recorded in this database to rigorously assess the short- and long-term effects of these policies, which will in turn inform future preparedness response plans in California and beyond.

Keywords: COVID-19; public health policy; socioeconomic factors; government; safety net; health disparities; California; economic transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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