In particular, Guerrero is interested in examining how the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, will improve the integration of substance abuse treatment, mental health care and HIV prevention programs, as well as its effects on treatment outcomes among African-American and Latino clients. The study is one of just five federally funded grants in the country focused on these questions.

“This area of inquiry is still developing, and it offers many opportunities to explore this historic policy legislation and its impact on people, particularly low-income racial and ethnic minorities,” he said.

Guerrero received a $428,327 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to support the first two years of the project. Successful achievement of milestones during the initial phase will lead to funding for an additional three years, totaling $1.1 million.

The phased nature of the project fits well with the framework of the ACA, which is slowly being introduced into the health care landscape over a matter of years. Guerrero hopes to establish a baseline understanding of treatment and care before the legislation is fully implemented to better understand its overall effect.

“Given that health care reform in its initial stages was very ambiguous and was gradually gaining support, this grant conforms to that process of gradually understanding where health reform is going,” he said.

Guerrero plans to conduct surveys with approximately 750 staff members in 157 substance abuse treatment programs in Los Angeles County, including program directors, supervisors and counselors. Information on organizational factors, such as expansion of the public health insurance program known as Medicaid and pressure from policymakers and regulators to provide health and mental health care under one roof, will be linked to data about all clients receiving treatment for substance use issues in the county, an estimated 10,000 people every year.

Making those connections between national health care policies and how individual clients respond to treatment is an innovative component of the project, Guerrero said, and will provide a better understanding of how services can be delivered more effectively, particularly to low-income and minority clients.

“This is a nice contribution to trying to link historic policy initiatives with organizations’ practices and roles, such as leadership and readiness for change to client outcomes that are reported by the clients themselves,” he said. “That’s what I’m feeling the most optimistic and excited about.”

In addition to collaborating with Lawrence Palinkas and Chih-Ping Chou at the School of Social Work, who are serving as co-investigators on the project, Guerrero will work with representatives from the county’s Substance Abuse and Prevention Control division. He said county officials have been involved in his previous research efforts and characterized the collaboration as critical to the success of the new project.

“They see the kind of development and knowledge they need to make policy decisions,” he said. “None of this could be possible if they were not supportive, and they did not share their data.”

By identifying strategies to reduce health disparities, increase access to integrated care and reduce HIV infection rates in some of the more impoverished areas of LA County, Guerrero said the project can create a roadmap for improving standards of care among vulnerable populations throughout the United States.

“Everybody talks about the need, but when you look at the kind of research that is funded and the interventions that are funded, they aren’t being implemented in these areas with low resources,” he said. “We just have to do a lot more work and make the extra effort to reach out to the neediest communities.”

This cause and effect is a theme that runs throughout Therapy, a play written and directed by USC School of Social Work alumnus Jeff Bernhardt MSW ’94 that shows how the line between professional and personal issues can become blurry.

Other characters include Lance, a depressed man in his 20s who masks his pain with sarcasm and who meets with Steven for therapy just to spite his parents with the bill. Somewhat new to private practice, Steven struggles to connect with Lance and airs his grievances and childhood wounds to Moira, an earth mother who meditates in her free time. The last of the play’s therapists is Sandra, a “consummate professional” who seems to have mastered leaving her personal problems at the door.

Bernhardt said he wanted to humanize the counseling profession through his characters.

“It was very important for me to present it in a realistic way,” Bernhardt said. “Oftentimes, the only experience people have with therapy is through the media, which doesn’t show what it’s really like to be a therapist or what issues come up.”

Therapy had nine showings over three weekends in March at the Secret Rose Theatre in Los Angeles. Sitting in the audience on opening night was Robin Siegal, an adjunct lecturer at the School of Social Work. After seeing the play, Siegal decided to sponsor it through California Psych Resources, an organization that promotes creative and applicable training for professionals in continuing education

“This was the first time I saw a play where social workers were therapists in private practice. That usually isn’t how we’re portrayed in the media,” Siegal said. “Bernhardt’s play helps demonstrate to the public that we’re capable of more things than being foster care workers.”

Bernhardt, who has worked as a social worker serving families and college students, said the play stems from the questions and experiences he was challenged with after the suicide of one of his former clients. As he worked through his thoughts and unresolved feelings from the incident, he started writing Therapy.

His emotional connection to the play can be seen in how his characters deal with abandonment, hopelessness and anger in a way the audience can relate to. Moira is a nurturing therapist in her office, but she struggles with the guilt of being unable to help her mother, who is suffering from dementia, because they live in different states. Just as the play isn’t only about therapy, Bernhardt’s characters aren’t only therapists — they are also people with their own concerns.

The National Association of Social Workers, which praised Therapy, chose to recognize Bernhardt with its Social Work Image Award. The honor is given to those who have advanced the profession through their work. Bernhardt said he was honored to receive the award because authentically representing social workers was important to him when creating the play.

“While I did not write Therapy with the goal of promoting a positive self-image of social workers, it was very important to me to portray the characters not as clichés or as stereotypes but as human beings with professional values and personal struggles,” Bernhardt said. “I got powerful reactions from people who never really understood what it was like to be a therapist, and the people who were therapists said they felt very validated by the way it was presented.”

Bernhardt currently works as a Jewish educator and communal professional but devotes most of his time to his writing career. He previously wrote the play Mixed Blessings and published the book On Sacred Ground: Jewish and Christian Clergy Reflect on Transformative Passages From the Five Books of Moses.

Bernhardt said his experience at USC greatly influenced Therapy.

“In writing and thinking about the play, I called upon my education, my internships and my work after I graduated,” he said. “Even though my schooling was 20 years ago, it was the foundation for everything that came later and everything that I’ve done since.”

But as the USC School of Social Work class project grew bigger and gained national attention — MAP was recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House last year — Kavanaugh realized that she could use her advocacy skills to achieve something on a larger scale.

That’s when she decided to join the Truman National Security Project, an organization that prepares the leaders of tomorrow to advocate for progressive national security policy. Kavanaugh is now one of fewer than 50 in the United States chosen to become part of the project’s 2013 Defense Council, a competitive leadership development program for those who honorably served in the military and defense communities and who understand what it means to serve at home and abroad.

Defense Council members, who are selected based on their desire and ability to influence policy, politics and public opinion, must demonstrate potential for ongoing public leadership and the desire to engage in the community throughout their professional lives.

“I feel honored to bring a social work perspective to the Truman National Security Project,” said Kavanaugh, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and former Marine Corps captain. “The organization makes the connection that social policies affect people, and that can affect national security.”

R. Paul Maiden, vice dean of the School of Social Work, assisted Kavanaugh during the application process and commended the 2012 National Association of Social Workers’ Up and Coming Student of the Year for her accomplishment.

“Kristen demonstrated exceptional leadership when she was an MSW student and continued to do so after her graduation from USC,” Maiden said. “Her military experience, advocacy in the LGBT community and advancement of LGBT acceptance in the military make her an exceptional Defense Council member.”

Kavanaugh recently attended an orientation where she was taught the values of the organization, communication skills, writing formulas and other tools that will be essential during her year with the Defense Council. As a member, Kavanaugh will focus on how social policy impacts national security and will promote social justice issues through the media and community involvement.

“It’s all about people and the importance of empowering them,” Kavanaugh said. “Having a social work background that has already developed that perspective has been a blessing.”

Kavanaugh is already preparing ways she can use her new position to make a difference in the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court rulings on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, both of which, if upheld, would affect the marriage rights of same-sex couples. Advancing policies that support equality complements Kavanaugh’s past in the military, present work with MAP and future goal of becoming a political figure.

“This allows me to take what I learned in the military and what I’ve learned at the School of Social Work and make it into another opportunity to serve,” Kavanaugh said.

Los Angeles voters go to the polls on May 21 to decide the city’s next mayor. In the latest poll, conducted May 14-16, LA City Councilman Garcetti is favored by 48 percent of voters compared to 41 percent for City Controller Greuel. Eleven percent of voters are undecided.

This represents a slight narrowing of the race since the last USC Price/LATimes Poll, conducted April 15-17, when 50 percent of voters supported Garcetti compared to 40 percent for Greuel.

Among people who said they have already voted by mail-in absentee ballot, Garcetti leads with 48 percent of the vote compared to 42 percent for Greuel. Nineteen percent of voters said they planned to vote by mail, and 80 percent said they would vote at the polls on election day.

The poll projects a turnout of about 25 percent in the city election, slightly higher than the turnout in the primary election in March. The pre-primary USC Price/LA Times Poll conducted in February showed Garcetti leading Greuel by two points with 13 percent of voters undecided; in the actual primary results, Garcetti led Greuel by four points.

“While these numbers are certainly very good news for Garcetti, the likely low turnout coupled with the high number of undecided voters and soft support on both sides means that this race is certainly not over,” said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Price/LA Times Poll and director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC.

“This campaign has turned into a referendum on Wendy Greuel and more specifically her support from public employee unions,” Schnur added. “The overriding challenge for Greuel continues to be to convince voters that her support from the public employees does not make her beholden to them.”

Despite Greuel’s historic bid to become LA’s first female mayor, she still does not have an advantage among women, the poll showed. Forty-seven percent of female voters backed Garcetti and 43 percent supported Greuel. Men backed Garcetti over Greuel, 49 percent to 38 percent.

But Greuel has made strides among younger women, with 52 percent support among women under the age of 50 compared to 41 percent support for Garcetti among young women. Among older women, Garcetti leads Greuel 51-to-38.

Gender was the top reason given when voters were asked about their support of Greuel. Among Greuel supporters, 13 percent said they are voting for her because she is a woman and “we need a female mayor.” Four percent of those backing Greuel said “union support” was their main reason for supporting her, the poll found.

Greuel’s overwhelming fundraising advantage among unions does not appear to have given her an edge among union households: More than half (51 percent) of union households support Garcetti, compared to 39 percent for Greuel. Among nonunion households, Garcetti leads Greuel 48-to-41.

Garcetti leads Greuel by a 21-point margin among conservative voters with 54 percent of the conservative vote, compared to 33 percent for Greuel. Among moderate and liberal voters, his lead is in the single digits: Garcetti leads Greuel 45-to-44 among moderates, and his lead is 50-to-43 among liberals.

“Greuel is making big gains with younger women and left-leaning voters in general, but she’s really bleeding among conservatives. By painting Greuel with the union brush, Garcetti has undercut what should have been a natural strength for Greuel with Republicans on waste and fraud,” said Amy Levin, vice president of Democratic polling firm Benenson Strategy Group, which conducted the poll with Republican polling firm M4 Strategies on behalf of USC Price and the Times. “He has animated that segment of the population against her. They are voting for Garcetti since they don’t want to see Greuel win.”

A full 25 percent of Garcetti supporters indicated their concerns about Greuel as the reason for their vote.

With the endorsement of Kevin James, the lone Republican in the mayoral primary, Garcetti has 57 percent of Republican voters compared to 35 percent for Greuel. Among independents, Garcetti leads Greuel 46-to-36. Among Democrats, Garcetti leads Greuel 46-to-44.

Regionally, Greuel is behind in all areas of the city including a tight race on her home turf, the San Fernando Valley, where Garcetti leads 47-to-44. In April, Greuel had a slight advantage in the Valley leading Garcetti 45-to-43, according to the USC Price/LA Times Poll.

“While the numbers haven’t changed much, the demographics within them have. This is a testament to the fact that negative campaigning is having an effect,” said Chris St. Hilaire, CEO of M4 Strategies. “Those negative attacks have pushed support over to Garcetti.”

Forty-nine percent of voters on LA’s Westside support Garcetti compared to Greuel’s 40 percent. In South Los Angeles, Garcetti holds a five-point advantage over Greuel, 41-to-35. In Central LA, where Garcetti represents the Hollywood/Silver Lake communities, he leads Greuel 52-to-41.

Garcetti also leads Greuel among white voters (51-to-40), among Latinos (53-to-40) and among young voters (50-to-40). Among black voters, Greuel leads with 48 percent support compared to 25 percent for Garcetti.

“The high level of undecided votes among African-American voters means that a strong get-out-the-vote effort in those communities can have a real impact as to whether Maxine Waters, Tom Bradley and Bill Clinton have the opportunity to make a difference for Greuel,” Schnur said.

Both Congresswoman Waters and President Clinton have endorsed Greuel, who served as deputy for Mayor Bradley, the first African-American mayor of Los Angeles.

In the race for LA city attorney, the USC Price/LA Times Poll showed Assemblyman Mike Feuer leading incumbent Carmen Trutanich, 42 percent to 24 percent.

In the race for Los Angeles city controller, LA City Councilman Dennis Zine has a slight lead over attorney Ron Galperin, 31 percent to 28 percent.

Majority favor limits on medical marijuana dispensaries

The poll found that nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of voters favor more regulation of the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries, compared to 13 percent who opt for less regulation and 19 percent who say regulation should stay the same.

In addition, a majority of voters support the ideas behind two measures on Tuesday’s ballot seeking to regulate the city’s dispensaries.

Fifty-five percent of voters favor the limits set forth by Proposition D, a ballot measure that would cap the number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city at 135 — the number of clinics operating in the city prior to the September 2007 moratorium imposed by the City Council.

Thirty-five percent of voters said no limits should be put on the number of Los Angeles dispensaries, so long as each dispensary operates within legal limits — such as employee background checks and not dispensing to minors — to ensure patients in pain can “get the prescriptions they need.”

Fifty-four percent of voters want to raise taxes by 20 percent on medical marijuana dispensaries, a proposal put forth in the competing ballot measure Ordinance F. Thirty-three percent oppose increasing taxes on dispensaries and 13 percent said they “didn’t know.”

Angelenos want investments in public transit over highways

When asked where policymakers should focus transportation spending, 49 percent of voters said money should be invested in public transit, such as buses, rail and subways, as opposed to 35 percent who said money should go to roads and freeways. Twelve percent said policymakers should focus on both.

Voters named traffic congestion as LA’s most serious transportation problem (39 percent), followed by a lack of public transportation (27 percent) and the poor condition of streets (20 percent).

Sixty-five percent said they had not used a mode of public transportation in the city within the last month, and 35 percent of voters said they had used LA’s buses, trains or subways during that time.

Overall, 25 percent used the bus, 17 percent used a subway, trolley or light rail, and 14 percent traveled via train in the past month. Of those who had used public transportation, 36 percent used it at least once per week and 62 percent used it less than once a week.

Only 13 percent of voters who used public transit said they used it “mostly to work,” with 57 percent saying they “mostly go somewhere else.” Twenty-seven percent of voters using public transit said they use it equally for work and other trips.

Among those who had not used public transit within the last month, 26 percent of voters said they avoided LA’s public transit because they preferred driving, walking or biking; 17 percent said public transit didn’t take them where they wanted to go; 15 percent said they don’t use public transit because they don’t need to leave their neighborhoods; and 8 percent said public transit time schedules are “not convenient.”

Voters were equally split when asked if they support expansion of “HOT lanes,” such as those on the 110 freeway, which are free for carpool drivers but can be accessed by solo motorists for a fee. Forty-seven percent said they support expanding these lanes to other freeways and the same percentage said they oppose expanding them.

However, 58 percent said they would not be willing to pay the extra fees — which range from $2.75 to $15.40 for the full 11-mile stretch depending on traffic — even if the lanes would significantly cut down on their commute time. Thirty-five percent of voters said they would pay for the lanes if they shortened commute time significantly.

“There seems to be a conflict between support of public transit policies and the implication for action,” said Raphael Bostic, director of the USC Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise and holder of the Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise at USC Price. “The results are striking in that there’s a good deal of support for investment in ‘HOT lanes’ and public transit, but when asked if voters would change their behaviors, the results were less affirming.”

The USC Price/LA Times Poll was conducted May 14-16, 2013, by M4 Strategies and Benenson Strategy Group on behalf of USC Price and the Times. The full sample of 500 likely voters carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The award program, an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, recognizes outstanding volunteers to set a standard for service, encourage a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspire others to make service a central part of their lives.

“In my inaugural address, I state that we need a new era of responsibility — a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world,” President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to Flynn. “These are duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit than giving our all to a difficult task. Your volunteer service demonstrates the kind of commitment to your community that moves America a step closer to its great promise.”

Clinical Professor Murali Nair, who has been affiliated with the corporation for 25 years as a consultant and grant application reviewer, nominated Flynn for the award.

“Dean Flynn’s commitment to helping others and making new connections that bring us closer together as part of the USC School of Social Work family is one of the highlights of my nomination effort,” he said. “Her demonstrated commitment and example inspire others to engage in volunteer service and make service a central part of our lives.”

Flynn has dedicated much of her life to the betterment of others through advancing social work education as well as the profession of social work. She became dean of the School of Social Work in 1997, and under her leadership, the school significantly expanded its research capacity by recruiting a nationally recognized faculty to conduct clinical and intervention studies in health, mental health, behavioral health, aging, homelessness, and child development and services.

She established the school’s military social work program, the first of its kind at a civilian research institution, and obtained the first congressionally directed appropriations ever received by a school of social work to create the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families. She also led the launch of a Web-based Master of Social Work degree program, the MSW@USC, which has allowed the school to become the first national school of social work, serving a diverse group of students who otherwise might not be able to earn an advanced degree.

“I could not be more honored to accept this recognition, which reflects so clearly the commitment of our school and all social workers to the well-being of communities and community organizations,” Flynn said.

As chairman of Maxwell College in Arcadia, Calif., Sun understands the value of education. But the businessman had never given social work as a profession and area of research a second thought until Flynn showed him how far-reaching and significant social work’s influence could be domestically and internationally.

That’s why Sun, who is currently consulting on the development of the School of Social Work’s relationship with Chongqing University and other institutions in China, decided to inaugurate an endowment fund for the school’s Flynn Prize for Research with a $100,000 gift.

“I hope to get more people interested in social work and contribute to the prize,” Sun said. “I want to make social work more well-known.”

Established by James Flynn in 1999, the Flynn Prize for Research is an internationally competitive award that recognizes a scholar whose interdisciplinary research has achieved high social impact and a demonstrable change in the lives of vulnerable populations. It comes with a gold medallion and a $20,000 honorarium.

By supporting this research-focused prize, Sun hopes that more people, especially those in his native China, will begin to understand the importance of the profession and how social workers contribute to the well-being of vulnerable populations both through practice and research. He said that he would like to see a social work master’s degree program at a Chinese university specifically designed for developing countries.

“It’s about what you are going to leave behind,” he said. “I hope this contribution impacts lots of people.”

Past winners of the Flynn Prize include Fred Wulczyn, director of the Center for State Foster Care and Adoption Data at the University of Chicago and a pioneer in the analysis of electronic records to better understand the experiences of children and families in the child welfare system. He has focused his work on defining social problems, developing social policy and assessing the impact of public investments to improve the lives of vulnerable children.

The Flynn Prize also went to J. David Hawkins, the Endowed Professor of Prevention and founding director of the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work, who has studied the development of healthy behavior and the prevention of problem behaviors among adolescents and young adults.

“Lloyd Sun has given the USC School of Social Work an enduring opportunity to honor those scientific and scholarly accomplishments in our profession that transform society and promote human welfare,” Flynn said. “I am so grateful to him for this important and historic gift.”

That was the consensus from a panel of business and civic leaders who discussed “The Revitalization of Downtown Los Angeles: The New Wilshire Grand” during the May 2 Dean’s Speaker Series event presented by the Athenian Society, the premier philanthropic support group of the USC Price School of Public Policy. The discussion, which took place in downtown LA’s Millennium Biltmore hotel, was the last installment of the event series for 2012-13.

USC Price Dean Jack H. Knott noted that “having a downtown with a strong residential component, transportation hubs, increased retail activity and people walking the streets is essential for the economic growth of the city. LA needs a vibrant urban core to keep the city vibrant.”

Moderated by Los Angeles Times staff writer Roger Vincent, the event first focused on the demolition of the 15-story Wilshire Grand Hotel at 7th and Figueroa and its replacement — a $1 billion, 70-story, state-of-the-art building, which will be the second tallest in Los Angeles when it opens in 2017.

“This is a game-changer,” said Hal Bastian, executive vice president and director of economic development for the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID). “It makes the statement that we’re becoming a world-class downtown.”

The new hotel will feature high-speed elevators that take people up to a 70th floor sky lobby in 45 seconds as well as a signature restaurant, rooftop pool, observation deck and a spire topping out at 1,100 feet. It will include 400,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet for retail. Sidewalk cafes, shops and entertainment are planned.

“There’s already been a great food renaissance downtown,” said Derrick Moore, principal, urban retail properties, at Avison Young, a real estate firm. “Now there’s the beginning of an explosion of soft [retail] goods.”

According to Christopher Martin, the architect of the new hotel, the hotel complex will become a Los Angeles destination in part because a planned new streetcar will travel a loop around the center of downtown, with a big turnaround in front of the Wilshire Grand.

“With the 7th Street/Metro Station being right there, the hotel will be at the [downtown] transportation hub,” explained Martin, CEO of AC Martin Partners Inc. and Martin Project Management.

Tanner Blackman, planning director in the Office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar, noted that the City Council already has allocated part of the funds needed for the streetcar and will now seek federal funding for the remainder.

“[The streetcar] will be a place-maker and a job-maker,” said Blackman, who is also an adjunct professor of planning at USC Price.

Bastian suggested that the permanence of a streetcar being embedded in the street “creates certainty for development in the future.” He also provided statistics showing downtown development momentum building over the last 15 years.

Since 1998, according to the DCBID, property values in downtown LA doubled; slow growth gave way to $15.7 billion in investments; 93,000 new jobs were created; the small number of food, retail and entertainment options expanded to more than 200; empty nighttime streets turned into bustling ones; and a resident population of 18,000 grew to more than 50,000. Among 2011 downtown residents, the median age was 33, while 80 percent had a college degree, and their median income was $86,300.

Yet panelists acknowledged that downtown still faces challenges both perceived and real.

In a Q-and-A session, an audience member asked how the public could be convinced that downtown is safe.

“Everything bad they’ve heard about L.A. is true ─ 20 years ago,” Bastian said. “We now have security on the streets 24 hours a day. Also, the No. 1 thing that creates public safety is people walking on the street; we’re getting that now.”

Blackman explained that to further diversify downtown and keep people living in the area, more attention to services will be required.

“Livability is a big focus of our [Huizar’s] office,” he said. “We need more bike lanes and charter schools.”

Alison Spindler, a Master of Planning student at USC Price, said that in talking about “multimodal transportation,” the panel touched on a concept often discussed in her classes.

“Including opportunities to walk, bike and use trains is the future of cities,” she said. “It was also good to hear the business community’s point of view and see them interact.”

The event, which was co-sponsored by the Metrans Transportation Center, was part of the Leading from the West series offered by USC’s Judith and John Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise.

Villaraigosa, who will complete his eight years as mayor in July, billed himself early on as the “transportation mayor.” He backed up the moniker by making a significant impact on the city’s transportation system, changes that will be felt for decades to come.

“Antonio Villaraigosa has shown strong leadership during his time as mayor on the unique challenges and opportunities of transportation, including issues of sustainability, financing, health and congestion,” said Jack H. Knott, dean of the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Raphael Bostic, director of the Bedrosian Center, and Metrans director Genevieve Giuliano posed questions to the mayor. The Bedrosian Center and Metrans are both housed in USC Price, with Metrans being a joint partnership with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and California State University, Long Beach.

Giuliano provided background on the city’s history of innovation in transportation. In the early 20th century, LA boasted the largest intercity rail system in the United States. In the 1920s and 30s, LA led the nation in the adoption of the automobile and high-speed roads. What is now Interstate 110 was the first freeway that opened in the Western U.S. in 1941. In 1990, Proposition A launched the concept of restructuring LA around public transit, an approach that Villaraigosa has continued.

“Suffice to say that Mayor Villaraigosa has more than carried out the road of innovation and creative problem solving in transportation,” Giuliano said. “With Mayor Villaraigosa we have seen a renewed commitment to a high-capacity public transit system, the development of bike and pedestrian facilities, an unprecedented effort to reduce air pollution at the ports, and a national effort to leverage local funds to accelerate capital investments.”

Careful to mention that these were joint efforts and not just his own doing, Villaraigosa said his two greatest accomplishments in transportation have been Measure R — the half-cent sales tax increase for LA County that was approved by voters in 2008 — and America Fast Forward — the program that allowed for the acceleration of transit projects by using the long-term revenue from the sales tax as collateral for long-term bonds and a federal loan. The results are already being seen in metro expansion, including the Expo Line, the Orange Line and its extension, and the East LA Gold Line, with the second stage of the Expo Line, Gold Line extension to Azusa and the Crenshaw Line on the way.

Smaller successes include signal synchronization, the 405 carpool lane, the introduction of high-occupancy toll lanes, reduced truck emissions, a $2 billion investment and 20,000 jobs to grow the Port of Los Angeles, and $4 billion and 40,000 jobs to expand Los Angeles International Airport.

“It wasn’t just building a transportation system, it was reimagining a city,” Villaraigosa said. “Not only are we building public transportation, we’ve got to get zoning and entitlements around transportation corridors and stations to create a city where vertical density is beautiful, but we’re also going greener, safer and more civic-minded.”

It’s no surprise that Villaraigosa’s biggest disappointment was the failure of Measure J, which would have extended the half-cent tax another 30 years to allow further bonding against the future. It fell less than a percent short on November’s ballot of the two-thirds vote needed to pass a tax increase in California.

“That was a big blow to acceleration and to smart, innovative ways to finance projects at a time when the federal government is missing in action,” Villaraigosa said. “This is the only place where you can have a landslide and still not get something passed. That’s how difficult it is to do good public policy.”

Villaraigosa said he has gone to Sacramento and asked for a bill to lower the requirement on measures to raise taxes to 55 percent — something he will continue pushing for after his two terms as mayor conclude.

Although he aspires to hold higher public office, Villaraigosa said he would always be a promoter of LA. Other areas he will continue to address include public-private partnerships, innovative transportation investments and environmental laws that he called too restrictive on infrastructure projects.

More specifically for LA transportation, he envisions a subway running underneath the 405 Freeway connecting the San Fernando Valley to West Los Angeles, with a high-occupancy lane running above to generate the needed funds for the rail in a public-private partnership, as well as a rail connector to the airport.

“Those are the kinds of things we’re going to have to think about in a world of gridlock, partisanship and the lack of political will to make investments in infrastructure,” Villaraigosa said. “The things we’re doing here, everybody’s watching us because if it’s successful here it’s going to be successful around the country.”

“To be invited to speak in front of Congress, professionally speaking, is a tremendous honor,” said Southers, who was serving as a Congressional witness for the second time. “To be a subject-matter expert invited back on a topic so critical going forward is an opportunity to represent our university, show people what we’re doing at USC CREATE and hopefully contribute to some improvements.”

Southers told the committee that terrorism requires a combination of three factors — an alienated individual, a legitimizing ideology (engaged through radicalization) and an enabling environment. Of the three, the environment is the biggest opportunity for positive influences, policies and behaviors that may reduce the risk of homegrown violent extremism, such as the kind seen in Boston.

He recommended that national efforts address the role communities play in facilitating and, more importantly, hindering radicalization. Community inaction, either through tacit approval of extremist ideas or a hesitancy to speak up when encountering an individual exploring a legitimizing ideology, provides an enabling environment.

Southers warned that many of these communities are now online and that the people participating in these virtual communities can take part in preventing or facilitating violent extremism in the same way as real-world communities.

“We live in a world and culture where we believe, with enough resources devoted, we can eliminate a threat,” Southers said. “What we have to get used to is that on a good day, we are containing a threat or hopefully reducing the risk, but we will never eliminate a threat.”

Southers was one of four expert witnesses called for the hearing. He provided five minutes of oral testimony, a more detailed six-page written submission and answered questions. He was asked to participate by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the committee’s ranking member.

Studying the possibility of attacks at sporting events and mass gatherings already was an area of focus at USC CREATE prior to the Boston bombings.

“The work we are doing is to use game theory for true randomization in becoming unpredictable to our adversary,” Southers said. “We appear to be everywhere by scanning people and places when they don’t expect it. Our research efforts will continue to address what a month ago was just a threat and now, unfortunately, has become a successful attack in this country.”

The boy had recently switched ADHD medications. Since Braxton-White, an MSW@USC student at the USC School of Social Work, had written a paper on the behavioral effects of changing ADHD medication — symptoms often get worse before they get better and can include aggression and even suicidal thoughts — she recognized the signs. And after presenting the case to her fellow social work interns, she knew that she would be able to help her client.

She empowered him by teaching him skills that would help him manage his ADHD, such as knowing when to ask for clarification in class, and after just a few sessions, the boy started to perform better in school.

“As a new social worker, you’re not exactly sure what you’re doing,” said Braxton-White, who led two groups and counseled 13 children during her internship. “But all the education through the trainings and coursework really brings it all together.”

Over the last academic year, the school has partnered with five field agencies in an innovative pilot program to turn them into something more than just field placement providers. These five organizations — ABC Unified School District, Orange County Department of Education, Anaheim Union High School District, The Village Family Services and Shields for Families — have signed on to be “teaching institutions,” a new paradigm in field education that aligns student learning, agency development and university research.

The idea is to foster closer relationships with the school’s existing field agencies and build new, more fruitful ones with others to establish a standardized internship program partly modeled after those undertaken by medical students in hospital settings.

“Teaching institutions are viewed as enriched learning environments, where field education and research are brought together,” said Marleen Wong, clinical professor and associate dean of field education. “We want to ensure that what we’re teaching would be applied more effectively in the field and the practice wisdom of agencies would be infused in our curriculum in multidirectional learning.”

Teaching institution field agencies offer student interns monthly trainings aligned with their practicum class lessons, and Master of Social Work students get to consult with their peers about cases in a group setting to share treatment plans and goals, as medical students would do in hospital rounds. In this way, MSW students will more quickly develop the language and capacity to consult on real cases. Also in line with the hospital internship model, teaching institutions are required to take on a certain number of interns every year.

When it comes to research, the goal is for evidence-based practices to be implemented in the field. Not only are students, agency staff and field instructors trained in the same interventions, but agencies also would be able to partner with School of Social Work faculty on grant writing and research project opportunities.

Kimberly Medvin MSW ’99 oversees the social work intern program at Shields for Families, which provides a range of social services for families in South Los Angeles. Medvin said that the teaching institution partnership with the School of Social Work has provided a more structured learning and training framework for better understanding among students.

“The collaboration provides an easier transition between what you’re learning in class and what you’re practically doing in the field,” she said. “There’s cohesion and unity. It’s a huge benefit if we’re all on the same page.”

Medvin also noted the pluses of an increased intern workforce for the communities they serve and the social work profession in general. She said that because Shields has more interns now — 26, up from 10 last year, the majority of whom are from USC — the agency is able to see a greater number of clients, especially those who otherwise may have fallen through the cracks.

“The more students we can get in here and provide with a strong training foundation, the more will be available to work when they graduate not just at Shields but also in the community,” she said.

Second-year MSW student Jessica Garcia, whose field placement is with the Orange County Department of Education offering social support services at Santa Ana High School, said that the training and education she has received as an intern at a teaching institution has eclipsed her previous field experiences.

With workshops that include poverty prevention and substance use trainings, as well as case scenarios and role-playing interventions, Garcia said she has learned what is appropriate to do with certain clients.

“The agency has provided a safe learning environment. They want to help you to be better by providing new learning opportunities and extra trainings,” she said. “They gave us those tools to get better at what we’re doing or to learn more on the populations we’re serving.”

Garcia handled nine of her own clients and held group anger management sessions for youth. Many of the children she worked with were resistant at first because they were forced to be there by their parents. But she soon learned how to get them to trust her.

“I had to find new ways to speak. My tone of voice definitely had to change when I spoke to the kids,” she said. “I explained to them how they would be helped by coming to therapy and made sure they understood the treatment plan and had input in it. I made sure they knew that it was a little bit of them and a little of me, working as a team.”

This kind of interaction that fosters relationships is important to Terri Villa-McDowell, who manages the social services program for ABC Unified School District, where the idea of a community school — one that provides health, mental health, food and clothing services beyond just education — is paramount.

Villa-McDowell pointed out the success one of the district’s social work interns had with a special needs child. The intern built up enough trust with the student that he felt comfortable opening up to her in a way that he had never done before, and he told her something important at a critical time in his family’s life.

“Kids get to know the interns, and they see that an adult cares about them,” Villa-McDowell said. “ABC schools have a commitment to building resilience and safe schools through these trust relationships.”

And for Villa-McDowell, the fact that teaching institutions have increased the number of interns they take on has meant that locally based Virtual Academic Center students, who have varying semester schedules, are now available to perform their field placements during the summer months, a plus for schools. One of these interns proved to be an asset that was highly valued by parents.

“The principal at one of our schools said that the parents of one of our high-needs kids started calling a couple of weeks before the intern was slated to leave at the end of the semester,” Villa-McDowell said. “They called asking, ‘Why is she leaving? She is the first person our kid has connected to at school.’ ”