Contra Costa County Research Articles

Applying a Theory of Change Approach to Interagency Planning in Child Mental Health

This paper describes the use of a theory of change approach to community-based cross-agency service planning for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families. Public agency planners in Contra Costa County, California used the theory of change approach to organize service planning for a population of youth who had been arrested and involved with juvenile probation. The theory of change process described in this paper links community outcomes with planned activities with the assumptions or principles that underlie the community planning efforts. When complete, a theory of change logic model can serve as a guide for implementation, ensuring that community plans for service delivery remain true to their intent. The theory of change development process includes twelve stages and is based on a step-by-step approach. Theory of change logic models establish a context for articulating a community's shared beliefs and prompt local stakeholders to establish logical connections between the population to be served, expected results, and strategies intended to achieve those results.

Training Students as Facilitators in the Youth Empowerment Strategies (YES!) Project

SUMMARY This article describes the training of students as facilitators for the Youth Empowerment Strategies (YES!) project designed to promote problem-solving, social action and civic participation among underserved elementary school youth in West Contra Costa County, California. This project involved 160 fifth grade students in after-school activities which identified their capacities and strengths in ways which aimed to decrease rates of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use and other risky behaviors. The article describes the recruitment and training of high school students and their graduate student counterparts as facilitators in this university-community partnership, and discusses the implications for other youth-focused community-based projects.

The Effects of Land Use on the Mobility of Elderly and Disabled and Their Homecare Workers, and the Effects of Care on Client Mobility: Findings from Contra Costa, California

This study looks at the relationships among land use; the mobility of disabled and elderly recipients of public home healthcare; the mobility of their homecare workers; and how much care those homecare workers provide. The findings are based on nearly 1,300 survey responses from clients and homecare workers in the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program in Contra Costa County, California, a publicly funded program for individuals with disabilities who have low incomes. The homecare workers I surveyed belong to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The qualitative data and descriptive statistics paint a portrait of both populations' transportation habits and challenges. Regression analyses, controlling for variables such as car ownership, disability level, gender, age, and race, tested the interactions between the variables of interest in six hypotheses. The results are complex and occasionally conflicting, yet patterns appear. For example, the IHSS clients have car-use rates far lower than average, with only 10% driving themselves when they leave home, and almost half live alone; these facts, combined with their low incomes and disabilities, mean that IHSS clients are sensitive to how much transportation assistance they receive in terms of how often they leave home and what destinations they are able to reach. They also respond to land use characteristics, especially when measured at the neighborhood scale, with those living in higher density and accessibility areas generally experiencing greater mobility. The homecare workers similarly have low incomes and use alternative modes of transportation more often than do Contra Costa commuters on average. Unlike their clients, homecare workers living in higher density and accessibility areas generally experienced increased travel challenges. But living closer to their clients was associated with being able to provide more effective care, as was having an easier commute measured by other variables. The more care provided, the greater mobility their clients experienced. The populations of care recipients and professional homecare workers are growing as, among other trends, the proportion of senior citizens increases and families disperse across the country or world. Understanding mobility barriers as well as ways to facilitate efficient and effective care provision becomes all the more important. This study describes transportation problems that IHSS clients and caregivers encounter and points to certain possible responses, in particular expanding the transportation assistance that caregivers are able to provide.

PLANT SECURITY GOES REGIONAL

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, AN INdustrial area northeast of San Francisco, and New Jersey are developing programs that require chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities to adopt plant security measures to reduce the odds and impact of a terrorist attack. Unlike the U.S. government's approach, the county and state are including the plant security oversight in their ongoing plant safety and environmental inspection programs. They began their efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In Contra Costa, county officials have interpreted a California accidental release prevention regulation as giving them authority to require vulnerability assessments. New Jersey passed a specific law, the Domestic Security Preparedness Act, within one month of Sept. 11. The law requires that state agencies implement a counter-terrorism program for some 20 infrastructure sectors in the state, including chemical plants, refineries, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology facilities. For these faciliti...

Measurements of N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>, NO<sub>2</sub>, and O<sub>3</sub> east of the San Francisco Bay

Abstract. We report in situ measurements of N2O5, NO2, and O3 in Contra Costa County, California during January 2004. Mixing ratios of N2O5, an intermediate compound in the atmosphere's nocturnal cleansing process, ranged up to 200pmol/mol at night. The highest N2O5 concentrations were correlated with low O3 and high NO2 concentrations. The calculated steady state lifetime for N2O5 ranged from 5 to 30min. The total HNO3 produced by N2O5 hydrolysis over a 14h night was comparable to ambient NO2 concentrations, and is estimated to be a factor of nine bigger than the HNO3 produced during the day.

Chapter 17

The earliest record of the microtine rodent genus Mimomys is from West Siberia, where, over 5 million years ago, it evolved from Promimomys. From western Asia, early Mimomys dispersed both east and west (to North America and to Europe), arriving at about the same time in both areas as a slightly larger and more evolved form that is essentially identical in both continents. Different species names are applied, as they obviously represent the beginnings of geographically separate lineages.The immigration of Mimomys to North America marks the beginning of the Blancan Mammal Age by original definition. The earliest dated North American record is the Upper Alturas Fauna of California, which is well dated by paleomagnetic stratigraphy, tephra “fingerprinting”, and potassium–argon dating at 4.8 Ma. Lindsay et al. (1999) have supported this age by paleomagnetic stratigraphy in two areas of Nevada. One other known fauna, the Maxum fauna of Contra Costa County, California, contains immigrant Mimomys that may be slightly older, but is not dated.Dispersal of the temperate-climate genus Mimomys between Eurasia and North America was through the Beringian Faunal Region, near the latitude of the Arctic Circle, and later intercontinental continuity of the genus was severely restricted by climate, not water. Other microtine rodents, more tolerant of cooler latitudes, were able to cross the Bering land area and thus integrate the biochronologies of the two continents, but the genus Mimomys is of little use in intercontinental correlation during most of the Pliocene.Eurasia and North America contain many faunal regions, and the temperate United States comprises at least two, separated by the Rocky Mountains. Each faunal region has, to an extent limited by its isolation, unique faunas and a different historic biochronology. Although the first Mimomys immigrants to North America and Europe were very similar, the genus evolved independently on the separate continents for the next 3.4 m.y., producing species, subgenera, and ultimately, new genera dramatically different in the two areas. During this isolation, separate lineages in the United States resulted in the subgenus M. (Cosomys) and the genus Ophiomys in the Western Faunal Region and in the subgenus M. (Ogmodontomys) and the genus Hibbardomys in the Eastern Faunal Region.Although also climatically constrained, the barrier to dispersal between these two faunal regions of the United States was much less rigorous than in Beringia. Several times taxa dispersed along two documented routes between the Eastern and Western Faunal Regions of the United States: through Yellowstone Pass in western Wyoming and around the southern end of the Rocky Mountains through Arizona and New Mexico. These faunal interchanges are useful in correlating the two regional biochronologies, and times of exchange correlate with the climate changes that made the Rocky Mountains, or the region to the south of it, habitable by temperate Mimomys.About 1.3 Ma, global warming again permitted Mimomys to disperse through Beringia. At or slightly before this second immigration of Mimomys, the descendants of the first immigration had become extinct or had evolved into forms no longer conforming to the diagnosis of Mimomys. The new immigrants are assigned to the Eurasian subgenus Mimomys (Cromeromys) and they are known to have lived well into the Irvingtonian mammal age, less than 0.78 Ma. Present records thus indicate that the genus Mimomys and derived forms lived in the United States for over four million years before they became extinct.

Infant feeding practices and maternal dietary intake among Latino immigrants in California.

Mothers of 8-16-month-old infants were surveyed to examine infant feeding practices and maternal dietary intake associated with increased years of residency by Mexican immigrant families (n = 1093 mother-infant pairs). Mothers were recruited from San Diego and Contra Costa counties in California during 1992-93. Twenty-nine percent of Mexican mothers living in the United States for <6 years breastfed their infants exclusively for at least 16 weeks; only 20% of mothers living in the United States between 6 and 15 years and 17% of mothers residing in the United States for over 15 years engaged in exclusive breastfeeding. Neither breastfeeding duration nor the introduction of solids differed by years of residency. In contrast, maternal dietary intake varied markedly. Second generation mothers and those living in the United States the longest had significantly higher intakes of vegetables, low fat milk, salty snacks, animal protein, and cereals. Beyond early caregiving practices, the influence of years of residency on the diets of toddlers is less than that of the mothers.

Health Findings from a Mortality and Morbidity Surveillance of Refinery Employees

PURPOSE: To present results from a prospective mortality (1973–1998) and morbidity (1990–1998) surveillance of a refinery population in California. METHODS: Mortality and illness-absence data were extracted from the Shell Oil Company's Health Surveillance System (HSS). Mortality data were compared to the United States, the state of California, and Contra Costa County, where the refinery is located. Morbidity data were compared to other company manufacturing employees. The standardized mortality/morbidity ratio (SMR/SMbR) was used as a measure of risk. Morbidity frequency and duration of absence were calculated by age, sex, and four health risk factors (smoking, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity). RESULTS: With the United States as a comparison, the all causes combined SMR was 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.78–0.90], and the SMR for all cancer was 0.75 (95% CI = 0.64–0.88). Statistically significant deficits in mortality were found for lung cancer (SMR = 0.60) and leukemia (SMR = 0.26). Morbidity frequency and duration of absence among smokers were substantially higher than those of nonsmokers. Similar results were also noted for obese employees when compared to those of normal weight. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of the comparison population, significantly fewer deaths were seen for all causes combined, all cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. The study also showed no increased mortality from cancer of the stomach, kidney, skin, prostate, and brain. The increased morbidity frequency and duration of absence were associated with the presence of known health risk factors. These study findings are useful in setting priorities for medical programs and directing efforts such as health promotion and disease prevention strategies.

An innovative strategy for institutionalizing a community-based tobacco program.

When Proposition 99 tobacco control program funding to state health departments was reduced in 1993, Contra Costa County developed a strategy to institutionalize its tobacco control programs in other organizations. This effort identified seven funding priorities and three stable, experienced community organizations "adopted" these priorities.

Slope Failure in Weathered Claystone and Siltstone

This paper describes the failure of an 8.5-m-high fill slope constructed over weathered claystone and siltstone in Martinez, Contra Costa County, in northern California. The failure occurred about 5 months after construction. Several piezometers and inclinometers were installed to measure the pore pressures and the location of the failure surface(s), respectively. The failure surface was observed just below the interface between the fill and the natural materials. Factors of safety of the failed slope calculated using laboratory-derived effective shear strength parameters were on the order of 1.58–1.95. Reduction factors were necessary to reduce the shear strength values and to obtain reasonable agreements with the field observations. A class “C” prediction of the location failure surface and the factor of safety using the reduced shear strength values indicated results that were consistent with the field observations. This paper highlights the importance of exercising extreme caution when evaluating the ...

To Ranch or Not to Ranch: Home on the Urban Range?

California ranchers in urban Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and in rural Tehama County, were surveyed to examine effects of increasing development, land use change, and attrition of the ranching community on their commitment to ranching, and to assess land conservation program acceptability. Questions were about practices, reasons for ranching, and what influences ranching's future. Ranchers share much in common. Most enjoy ranching, feeling close to the earth, living in a good place for family life, and the camaraderie in the ranching community. They regularly carry out range improvements. Most believe that society is becoming hostile to A dislike for outsider intervention and land use control prevails. Urban ranchers cared significantly less about the fate of their ranch if sold, and feared local land use planning much more. Rural ranchers overwhelmingly wanted their ranch to remain a productive ranch even if sold. No new ranchers appeared in the urban sample for the last 10 years. As urbanization proceeds, we suggest that a point is reached where ranchers recognize the social, ecological, and economic landscape as urban and see it as no longer suitable for ranching. Expecting to sell for development, and/or expecting zoning to change to allow it, becomes the rational view. Land conservation efforts, including relatively acceptable though as yet not widespread conservation easement programs, should begin before that happens. DOI:10.2458/azu_jrm_v53i4_liffmann

Twenty-five years of excellence: The legacy and the challenge

The legacy for the present Western Thoracic Surgical Association began in the mid-1960s in Oakland, California. A group of thoracic surgeons from the East Bay and San Francisco began conducting monthly meetings in the Alameda Contra Costa County Medical Society offices to train residents in the delivery of scientific papers. The group, originated by Dr Kenneth Hardy, was known as the Bay Area Thoracic Surgical Society. Dr Hardy was subsequently killed in an accident and the meetings were suspended. In 1973, the records and bank account of the society, totaling $500, were turned over to Dr David Dugan, and a meeting of the members was organized to determine the future of the society. These members met at Samuel Merritt Hospital in Oakland on November 27, 1973. A decision was made to continue the society and to include chest surgeons from all of Northern California. The name of the society was changed to the Northern California Thoracic Surgical Society and officers were elected: Dr David Dugan, president; Dr Arthur Thomas, secretary/treasurer; and Dr Buford Burch of Martinez, California, recorder. Dr Thomas was given the assignment of writing the by-laws and constitution for the society. On December 11, 1973, the executive committee, consisting of Drs Dugan, Thomas, and Burch, met again at Samuel Merritt Hospital. At this meeting a decision was made to change the name of the society to The Samson Thoracic Surgical Society, this decision being made unilaterally and without the knowledge or permission of Dr Paul Samson. A decision was also made to extend membership to thoracic surgeons throughout all of California, and an inaugural dinner of the society was organized. Invitations were sent to 98 thoracic surgeons in California on new stationery bearing the red and white Chief, Division of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah; Clinical Professor of Surgery, University of Utah, College of Medicine. Read at the Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of The Western Thoracic Surgical Association, Olympic Valley (Lake Tahoe), Calif, June 23-26, 1999. Received for publication June 29, 1999; accepted for publication July 13, 1999. Address for reprints: Kent W. Jones, MD, 324 Tenth Ave, No. 160, Salt Lake City, UT 84103. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2000;119:203-9 Copyright © 2000 by Mosby, Inc. 0022-5223/2000 $12.00 + 0 12/6/101412

Geology of the South Oakley Gas Field and California's Largest Gas Well, Contra Costa County, California

Geology of the South Oakley Gas Field and California's Largest Gas Well, Contra Costa County, California

To ranch or not to ranch: Home on the urban range?

California ranchers in urban Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and in rural Tehama County, were surveyed to examine effects of increasing development, land use change, and attrition of the ranching community on their commitment to ranching, and to assess land conservation program acceptability. Questions were about practices, reasons for ranching, and what influences ranching's future. Ranchers share much in common. Most enjoy ranching, "feeling close to the earth," living in a "good place for family life," and the camaraderie in the ranching community. They regularly carry out range improvements. Most believe that society is becoming "hostile to ranching." A dislike for outsider intervention and land use control prevails. Urban ranchers cared significantly less about the fate of their ranch if sold, and feared local land use planning much more. Rural ranchers overwhelmingly wanted their ranch to remain a productive ranch even if sold. No new ranchers appeared in the urban sample for the last 10 years. As urbanization proceeds, we suggest that a point is reached where ranchers recognize the social, ecological, and economic landscape as urban and see it as no longer suitable for ranching. Expecting to sell for development, and/or expecting zoning to change to allow it, becomes the rational view. Land conservation efforts, including relatively acceptable though as yet not widespread conservation easement programs, should begin before that happens.

Characterization of antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pyogenes isolates from the San Francisco Bay area of northern California.

During 1994 and 1995, 157 isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes from patients with invasive disease were consecutively collected in the San Francisco Bay area to determine the frequency of antimicrobial resistance. Susceptibility testing was performed according to the guidelines of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards by the disk method and by broth microdilution. For comparison of susceptibility patterns, an additional 149 strains were randomly collected from patients with pharyngitis. For San Francisco County, 32% of the isolates from invasive-disease-related specimens but only 9% of the isolates from throat cultures from the same period were resistant to erythromycin (P = 0.0007). Alameda County and Contra Costa County had rates of resistance of </=10% from isolates from all cultures. When the data were analyzed by hospital, the San Francisco County Hospital had a statistically higher rate of erythromycin resistance (39%) among the strains from serious infections compared to those from other counties (P = <0. 0003). For tetracycline, high rates of resistance were observed in San Francisco County for both isolates from patients with invasive disease (34%) and pharyngitis (21%) in the same period. Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, two clones, one at the San Francisco County Hospital and a second in the entire area, were identified. The latter clone exhibited resistance to bacitracin. Of 146 strains that were tested by microdilution, all were susceptible to penicillin. Clindamycin resistance was not seen among the erythromycin-susceptible strains, but two of the 39 erythromycin-resistant strains were also resistant to clindamycin. An additional 34 strains showed resistance to clindamycin when exposed to an erythromycin disk in the double-disk diffusion test, suggesting that the mechanism of erythromycin resistance is due to an erm gene. This study demonstrates a high rate of resistance to macrolides and tetracycline among S. pyogenes isolates in San Francisco County and shows that macrolide resistance is more common in strains from patients with invasive disease than in strains from those with pharyngitis.

Medicare reform: foundations respond to federal policy changes.

Medicare reform: foundations respond to federal policy changes.

Diets of Three Predators at Concord Naval Weapons Station, Contra Costa County, California

Diets of Three Predators at Concord Naval Weapons Station, Contra Costa County, California

Launching a Family-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Human Services System

The author describes Contra Costa County's efforts to implement Healthy Families 2000, the County's vision of neighborhood-based, family-centered, comprehensive integrated services in two of the county's unincorporated areas, North Richmond and Bay Point. Contra Costa County is one of six bay area counties, northeast of San Francisco. It has nearly 800,000 residents and is home to some of the wealthiest communities in the state as well as some of the poorest neighborhoods. This article provides a systematic review of the process and a discussion of the operating practices and principles guiding Contra Costa's significant effort to change its service delivery approach, anticipating that this experience might be helpful to others as they develop a neighborhood-based human services partnership with community leaders and residents.

Gender Differences in Homicide in Contra Costa County, California: 1982-1993

Homicide is the third leading cause of injury death for women in the United States. However, few studies have examined the circumstances specific to female homicide. This study examines gender differences in circumstances surrounding homicides in Contra Costa County for a 12-year period. Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) data for Contra Costa County from 1982 through 1993 were analyzed. Variables examined were gender of the victim, victim-offender relationship, age of victim, weapon used, location of homicide, precipitating circumstances, and gender of the offender. Forty-six percent of the women were killed by their spouse, other family member, or intimate partner, compared to only 11.4% of men. In contrast, men were more likely to be killed by a stranger than women (17.9% versus 10.9%, P = .02). A higher percentage of women than men were killed with a blunt object, a personal weapon (i.e., fists, feet, and teeth), or other weapon (24.9% versus 10.6%, p < .01), and in a residence (60.1% versus 34.8%, P < .001). Men were more likely than women to be killed by a firearm, in a public place (i.e., a parking lot or street), and while a felony was being committed. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that many female homicides may be the result of domestic violence, belying the myth that the principal perpetrators of homicides against women are strangers. The differences between female and male homicides indicate that gender-specific prevention strategies need to be pursued.

Alcohol and Injuries Resulting from Violence: A Comparison of Emergency Room Samples from Two Regions of the U.S.

Data on representative samples of emergency room patients from a wet region of the U.S. (Contra Costa County, California) and a dry region (Jackson, Mississippi) were analyzed to explore the influence of drinking patterns, rates of abstinence, and per capita consumption with respect to alcohol's role in injuries involving violence. In both samples those with violence-related injuries were more likely to have a positive breathalyzer reading, to report drinking within six hours prior to the event and to report drunkenness and alcohol-related problems compared to those with other injuries. A larger proportion of those with violence-related injuries in the Jackson sample reported consuming more drinks prior to injury and a shorter time lapse between drinking and the event than those in Contra Costa. They were no more likely, however, to report feeling drunk at the time or to attribute a causal association between drinking and the event. The data suggest there may be a closer association of alcohol with violence in the Jackson sample compared to Contra Costa.