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Gather actionable data on issues affecting your population Community Assessments Impact Surveys Homelessness Reports

Our Partners <Back Since 1980, ASR has been working with public and private agencies, federal and local government, health and human service organizations, cities and county offices, school districts, institutions of higher learning, and charitable foundations. ​ If you desire, we are happy to provide a customized list of references in each of our research areas. They will validate our experience and capabilities in any of the projects ASR has undertaken. ASR Partners ACTION for Healthy Communities Alameda County Office of Homeless Care and Coordination Alameda County Public Health Department Alliance for Children's Early Success Arizona First Things First Attendance Works Bay Area Women's Sport Initiative (BAWSI) Bring Me a Book Foundation Butte County Office of Education Child Abuse Prevention Center Sacramento Cañada College Catholic Charities Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford University Central California Alliance for Health Child Advocates of Silicon Valley Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County City of Half Moon Bay City of San Jose Housing Department City of Santa Clara City of Santa Cruz City of Scotts Valley City of Watsonville Clark County Department of Social Services Coconino County Office of Education Coastal Watershed Council Communities Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County Community United to Reduce Bingeing (CURB) Contra Costa County Administrator's Office County of San Mateo Human Services Agency County of Santa Clara Office of Affordable Housing Dientes Community Dental Ecology Action of Santa Cruz Educare of Silicon Valley El Camino Hospital Community Benefit Encompass Community Services Fairfield Police Activities League First 5 Alameda First 5 Contra Costa First 5 Del Norte First 5 Kern First 5 Los Angeles First 5 Madera First 5 Marin First 5 Mono First 5 Orange First 5 Sacramento First 5 San Benito First 5 San Francisco First 5 San Mateo First 5 Santa Barbara First 5 Santa Clara First 5 Santa Cruz First 5 Siskiyou First 5 Solano First 5 Sutter (Sutter Co. Children and Families Commission) First 5 Ventura First 5 Tehama First 5 Yuba Foothill College Foundation Consortium for California Children and Youth Franklin McKinley School District Gavilan College Glenn County Office of Education Goodwill Industries of Santa Cruz County Grail Family Services Her Health First – Black Mothers United Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley Helios Foundation Hollister Youth Alliance Kaiser Permanente Kids In Common Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford Marin Community Foundation Marin County Department of Health and Human Services Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital Mendocino County Public Health Department Menlo Park City School District Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey County Department of Social Services Monterey County Housing Alliance for People with Disabilities Napa Valley Vintners Northern Region and Substance Abuse and Shelter Services One East Palo Alto O'Neill Sea Odyssey Orange County Office of Homeless Services Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance Pajaro Valley Unified School District Peninsula Family Service Agency Peninsula Partnership for Children, Youth and Families Pleasanton Unified School District Providence Valdez Medical Center Raising a Reader, Alameda County Raising a Reader, Menlo Park Ravenswood City School District Results Leadership Group Riverside County Department of Social Services Sacramento County Public Health Department San Francisco City & County Office of Homeless Services San Francisco Department of Children Youth and Families San Francisco Unified School District San Joaquin County Community Health Assessment Collaborative San Mateo County Behavioral Health San Mateo County Healthy Community Collaborative San Mateo County Juvenile Probation Department San Mateo Foster City School District San Mateo Human Services Agency San Rafael City Schools Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Santa Clara County Collaborative Court Santa Clara County Community Benefits Coalition Santa Clara County Dependency Wellness Court Santa Clara County Juvenile Probation Department Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness Santa Clara County Public Health Department Santa Cruz County Career Works Santa Cruz County Community Counseling Center Santa Cruz County Drug and Alcohol Program Santa Cruz County Probation Department Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office Santa Cruz County Criminal Justice Council Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency Santa Cruz County Human Services Department Santa Cruz County Office of Education Santa Cruz County Substance Abuse Prevention Services Santa Cruz Housing Authority Sequoia Healthcare District Siskiyou County Behavioral Health Silicon Valley Community Foundation Solano County Land Trust SOMOS Mayfair Sonoma County Human Services Department Stanford Health Care Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Technology and Information Management, UC Santa Cruz The Connecticut Association of Directors of Health The Sonoma County Community Development Commission Third Street Community Center United Way of Anchorage United Way of the Bay Area United Way of Missoula Montana United Way of Nevada County United Way of Northern Arizona United Way of Santa Cruz County Ventura County Juvenile Probation Washington State Farm Worker Housing Trust Watsonville Law Center Workforce Investment Board of Santa Cruz County Yakama Nation Housing Authority Youth and Family Enrichment Services, San Mateo County Yuba County Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC)

Jessica Irwin, PhD Senior Research Analyst Dr. Jessica Irwin joined ASR in 2023 as a Senior Research Analyst. She earned a Ph.D. in developmental psychology with a minor in statistics from Wayne State University, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Rochester, UCLA, and Chapman University. Her research used a biopsychosocial theoretical framework to examine risk and resilience in the context of early life experiences. ​ Dr. Irwin has extensive training in data analysis and expertise ranging from design and implementation of research protocols and assessments, to cleaning, organizing, and analyzing data, and creating engaging visuals of the results. She also has years of experience teaching statistics, research methods, and developmental psychology courses as a university professor. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, crafting, and spending time with her fiancé and dog. She is also a passionate advocate for disability rights. ​ < Back Jessica@appliedsurveyresearch.org

Susan Brutschy President Susan Brutschy co-founded Applied Survey Research in 1981 with Sociology Professor Dane Archer of the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has been President of ASR since 1989, leading hundreds of evaluations, assessments, and strategic planning processes in community quality of life, early childhood development, domestic violence, child abuse and maltreatment, early literacy, K-12 education, and homelessness. ​ Ms. Brutschy has expanded ASR's work to national and international prominence. In 2006, ASR won the prestigious Community Service Award from the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS). They noted that ASR won the honor "for its outstanding work in applying its data collection, analysis, reporting, and management skills to addressing homelessness and other social problems." In 2007, ASR and the United Way of Santa Cruz County won a national award from the Brookings Institution for having the best indicator project in the nation, the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project (CAP) . Over the last decade, Ms. Brutschy has pioneered an outcomes framework for ASR's work in community assessments, evaluations, and strategic planning processes. This framework, known as Results Based Accountability (RBA), was created by Mark Friedman of the Fiscal Policies Institute. The framework’s goal is to begin with the outcomes that a community would like to achieve. Once a community agrees on those outcomes, Ms. Brutschy and ASR staff use RBA to develop the best methods to achieve those ends. ​ She has successfully led many projects using RBA, including the previously mentioned Santa Cruz County CAP, which functions as a community report card with over 135 indicators; First 5 Santa Cruz County to benefit children ages 0-5 in low income communities of color; and Kindergarten Readiness Assessments in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties. Ms. Brutschy believes that data should not sit in binders collecting dust, but rather that it should become a catalyst for community change. She has helped many communities in California, Arizona, and Alaska to achieve improvements in health, domestic violence, child abuse and maltreatment, early childhood literacy, drug and alcohol abuse, and school safety. ​ She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with highest honors in Sociology, and received awards for her research in designing and implementing quantitative assessments of community opinion for the Social Research Unit. In addition to her work at ASR, Ms. Brutschy enjoys reading about the history of ancient Egypt, international travel, and camping with her husband and four adult children. < Our Team Susan@appliedsurveyresearch.org

Kimberly Corneille, MA Senior Research Analyst I Kimberly Corneille joined ASR in September 2023. She has over 20 years of experience working in education, mostly serving at-promise youth. Some of her recent ASR projects include the Resource Link project, as well as facilitating decision-making processes with Santa Clara County’s Office of Education’s Universal PreKindergarten Program. ​ Prior to her role at ASR, she was a Senior Community Organizer and the Foster Youth Services Coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, overseeing countywide foster youth data and providing technical assistance on foster youth education-related best practices to 11 school districts. During her tenure there, she was also the FosterEd Project Lead, the Chair of the Santa Cruz County Foster Youth Services Executive Advisory Council, a Trauma Informed Practices for Schools (TIPS) trainer, and a certified Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) coach. She is a student of Radical Transformational Leadership and uses her values to guide her work with children, youth, families, schools and organizations. Kimberly also has several years of experience teaching in the classroom. ​ Kimberly received her Masters in Teaching and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from UC Santa Cruz and her Bachelor’s in Human Development from UC San Diego. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, yoga, working with rescue horses, seeing live music, traveling, reading, and spending time with her partner and dog < Back Corneille@appliedsurveyresearch.org

Jordan Katti, PhD Project Manager II Dr. Jordan Katti joined the ASR Sacramento location in 2019. As a project manager, Dr. Katti has contributed her expertise on a variety of projects, primarily with organizations that support the healthy development of young children and their families. She is an expert in project management and implementation, as well as in data collection and analysis, with both qualitative and quantitative methods. She particularly enjoys working on projects that include racial equity, positive parenting, and the prevention of child abuse and neglect. ​ Dr. Katti earned her PhD in developmental psychology with a minor in statistics from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She specializes in infant and toddler development, especially among historically underserved populations. After completing her graduate program, Dr. Katti joined the University of Michigan-Flint as a postdoctoral research fellow investigating the impacts of the water crisis on young children living in Flint. Her research has been presented at multiple national conferences, including the Society for Research in Child Development, and it has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including Infant Behavior and Development. ​ Outside of work, Dr. Katti is an avid Michigan football and basketball fan (Go Blue!) and enjoys spending time with her young daughter, husband, and dog. < Back Jordan@appliedsurveyresearch.org

View Full Report Executive Summary Focus Groups and Listening Sessions Quantitative data is ”lonely” without qualitative data. ASR can help you listen to community voice, such as focus groups and listening sessions to explore and generate issues (exploratory, divergent thinking), and listening sessions to confirm a set of issues and offer solutions (confirmatory, convergent thinking). ​ Highlight Project: Communities of Practice Listening Sessions Data Snapshot View Snapshot < Back

< Back Fair Market Rent Surveys One major strategy to increase access to affordable housing is for counties and cities to provide subsidized housing. Residents can use Section 8 vouchers to pay for housing at the Fair Market Rent (FMR) value. ASR has helped counties such as Santa Cruz and Alameda conduct Fair Market Rent surveys that in turn help establish the current fair market rent value. In high-cost markets such as the Bay Area, it is critical that fair market value of vouchers keeps up with the housing market. Contact Us for More Information

Early Learning & Kindergarten Readiness ​ Quality early learning experiences and kindergarten readiness predict later school achievement. In 2001, ASR developed a 20-item assessment tool completed by teachers called the Kindergarten Observation Form to measure children's kindergarten readiness. Used across California and in several other states, this validated form can be used to show how key programs like pre-K help prepare children for school success. ​ Project Highlight: Santa Clara County Kindergraten Readiness Report View Full Report Executive Summary < Back Additional work samples Napa Valley Early Learning Initiative View Full Report Exec Summary

Liat Sayfan, PhD Senior Data Manager Dr. Liat Sayfan is a developmental psychologist with 25 years of experience conducting research and evaluations in the field of child development and educational programs. She has extensive experience leading all aspects of the research cycle, from survey design and pilot testing, to creating and using protocols for data cleaning and analysis, conducting applied statistical analysis using primary and secondary data sets, and providing digestible oral presentations and effective communication of study results to clients with little to no understanding of statistics or research methods. She is adept at juggling the responsibilities of multiple research projects conducted simultaneously, and has many years of experience mentoring students and supervising colleagues to increase their professional development. Liat also has substantial teaching experience at the college level, including statistics classes, research method and child development classes. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Statistics, a Master’s in Early Childhood Education, and a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, ​ In her spare time, she loves to engage in physical activities – she’s an avid CrossFitter, a Brazilian Jujitsu practitioner, and teaches Spin and fitness classes. She also loves to cook and host dinner parties. < Back Liat@appliedsurveyresearch.org

James Connery, MBA Project Manager II James Connery came to ASR in 2010 and has contributed to Community Assessment Projects throughout California, Arizona, and Alaska by collecting both secondary and primary data and collaborating with members of communities to develop meaningful data that best serves the needs of ASR clients. In addition to his work on community assessment projects, he has worked on needs and assets reports of children ages birth through five in nine regions of Arizona. He has also worked on homeless census and surveys throughout California providing clients with valuable information for decision making. James also provides operational and technical support to ensure employees throughout the company are equipped with the infrastructure needs to work efficiently and effectively. James is an avid Bay Area sports fan and loves to see how statistics are increasingly used as an integral part of sports performance evaluation. James is always interested in finding new and creative ways in which data are presented and used. When James isn’t working, he enjoys playing recreational league softball, and spending time with his wife, their three kids, and their golden retriever. James earned his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Arizona, and graduated from California State University: Monterey Bay with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. < Back James@appliedsurveyresearch.org

We stand for wellbeing for all. ASR continues to grow partnerships with those who appreciate our community-based participatory approach and share our values. Contact Us Today! At ASR we are committed to: Learn more about what equity-driven research can do for you. Honoring participant experiences Ensuring that our work is founded in principles of anti-racism and access for all Continuous improvement Rigorous, actionable, and easy-to-share results