CA Forward

THE INNOVATION:

CAforward is working to redesign California government so that is more efficient and provides California citizens the proper resources they need in their local communities.

Richard W. Raya: Policy Director

CAforward.org

Watch a brief intro video...

Listen to the full conversation podcast:

Excerpts:

"Growing up my parents were farmworkers.  At times my mother was on Welfare and I was on Medical.  I ended up dropping out of public school.  But because of our wonderful Community College system, I was able to get on track to go UC-Berkeley….. I have lived the CA safety net –  I’ve been part of most of those programs.  The only major state program I haven’t been a part of is the state prison system…  Because I saw the transformative power that our safety net can have on a person, I decided I wanted to go work for government. " 

"Because of structural issues, because of the way government funding was set up, many programs were unable to collaborate…. Some people talk about the government being in silos, and that is exactly what I experienced.   … I knew that I had to help create a structural solution. "  

“If you start with education and a person gets a good education they are more than likely to get a better job and if they get a better job they are probably going to be healthier and  there is going to be less poverty and less crime. If your successful in one of these areas your going to see benefits in another area.”

“We actually have to redesign the relationship between the state and local governments. Thats another big problem a lot of folks don’t understand the relationship between the state and local governments. We’ve got thousands of different jurisdictions here in the state making it difficult for people to engage.”

“In order for this new way of governing to work, the public has to be involved. So if were measuring outcomes; the public has to aware of those outcomes, they have to buy into those outcomes and there has to be transparency about the strategies that government is using to get to these outcomes.”

"We think we are building a more financially sustainable government.  By helping people you reduce fiscal pressure on the safety net programs."

"We really need more input around technology and data… a new more data-driven government… I know there is some technology out there that can help…  If  anybody has any ideas on that, we would love to hear."