Over 13 million Californians participate in safety net programs that provide resources including health insurance, food assistance, and tax credits. The Assessing California Communities' Experiences with Safety Net Supports Survey (ACCESS) is an ongoing study that aims to understand how to improve the delivery of social safety net programs and increase participation of eligible California families. A new ACCESS research brief revealed gaps in the way these support programs met the needs of California households with young children during the COVID pandemic. The research team conducted almost 500 interviews with California households with young children. They found that safety net supports were helpful but insufficient; child care, housing, and mental health supports were resources that families felt were lacking in the current safety net system. Recommendations included developing a more comprehensive and better integrated safety net system that includes affordable child care, adequate income, additional housing support, and mental health care. This research both informs future emergency preparedness and ongoing conversations to improve the existing safety net. The ACCESS research team is led by Lia Fernald from UC Berkeley, Wendi Gosliner from the Nutrition Policy Institute, and Rita Hamad from UC San Francisco. This work was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with additional support from the Tipping Point Foundation and the UC Berkeley Population Center.

A new research brief developed by the Nutrition Policy Institute details findings from an evaluation of the California Nutrition Incentive Program, a program that provides CalFresh shoppers with a dollar-for-dollar match when purchasing California-grown produce at participating farmers markets and other retail outlets. In this evaluation, NPI researchers conducted surveys and interviews with a convenience sample of CalFresh shoppers and food store managers. Overall, CalFresh shoppers reported overwhelmingly positive experiences using CNIP and store managers also found the program to be beneficial. While the results showed that CNIP utilization did not have statistically significant impacts on quantitative measures of shoppers' produce intake or food security, shoppers did report that CNIP influenced the kinds of fruits and vegetables they bought and also attributed being able to buy more fruits and vegetables to this program. CalFresh shoppers wanted CNIP to continue and supported it expanding to other retail outlets.

A new research brief developed by the Nutrition Policy Institute provides findings about California K-12 students' time to eat school meals. During the 2021-22 school year, the final year of meals being free of charge for all students as part of the federal government's COVID-19 pandemic response, NPI researchers surveyed and interviewed California school food service directors and parents of students, and conducted focus groups with students. Responses showed that adequate time for students to sit and eat school meals is a concern among all three groups. Food service directors and students made suggestions for improvement including adding more lunch periods and increasing cafeteria staffing; both groups also suggested extending the lunch period. The findings on time to eat are one of many analyses being undertaken in NPI's evaluation of California's School Meals for All program. During school year 2022-23, NPI researchers along with national colleagues are collecting data again from these same stakeholders in school nutrition programs in California and 9 other states.

Researchers conducted a small community-based participatory research pilot of a drinking water intervention in the Navajo Nation and found that caregivers' reported knowledge of Diné (Navajo) traditions about water doubled and that the influence of Diné traditions on beverages they offered their children more than doubled. A Community Advisory Group met monthly to develop a curriculum for preschoolers and their caregivers that responded to caregiver knowledge gaps and centered Navajo language and traditions. Four monthly lessons were delivered by Early Childhood Education teachers through remote learning using multimedia materials to 21 households with children ages 2-5 enrolled in four Navajo Nation preschools. A majority (86%) of participating households had tap water at home, but only 38% stated they trusted their tap water's safety. While not statistically significant, children's average daily water consumption increased by 16% while consumption of sugary drinks decreased by 21%, with a reduction in energy intake from sugary drinks of 26 calories per day. The study was led by Brigham and Women's Hospital in partnership with Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) of Navajo Nation and the Nutrition Policy Institute, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources. The study was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (grant no. 77234). To learn more, read the research brief, “Water is K'é: A Community-Based Intervention to Increase Healthy Beverage Consumption by Navajo Preschool Children.”