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Reports

The Impact of Proposition 209 on Public Contracting in California

Free to Compete? Measuring the Impact of Proposition 209 on Minority Business Enterprises

(August 2006)
In 1996, Proposition 209 eliminated affirmative action in public education, employment, and contracting. Called the California Civil Rights Initiative, this proposition ended race and gender-conscious programs designed to increase participation and opportunity in public contracting. Free to Compete? reports on the 10-year impact of Proposition 209 on Minority Business Enterprises seeking public contracts in California’s transportation construction industry.

 

A Vision Fulfilled? The Impact of Proposition 209 on Equal Opportunity for Women Business Enterprises

(September 2007)
Affirmative action programs were initiated in the 1960s to correct patterns of discrimination against people of color and women of all racial groups in order to fulfill the vision of inclusion of all people in the mainstream of the nation. In 1996, Proposition 209 eliminated affirmative action in public employment, education, and public contracting. This report summarizes the Henderson Center’s research on the 11-year impact of Proposition 209 on Women Business Enterprises seeking public contracts in California’s transportation construction industry.

This research was presented at the Inclusive Business Initiative convening sponsored by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development on July 22nd, 2008 in Kansas City, MO. You can view this presentation by clicking here.

The Henderson Center research on the presence and removal of equal opportunity programs was presented to the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship for a roundtable on Minority Entrepreneurship:  Evaluating Small Business Resources and Programs held on September 24, 2009. Click here to view the testimony of Michael Sumner.

 

The Impact of Proposition 209 on Public Employment in California

Proposition 209 and Public Employment in California:  Trends in Workforce Diversity

(September 2008)
Continuing our examination of the impact of Proposition 209 on California’s public sphere of equal economic opportunity, HCSJ is analyzing the employment trends for public employees in California. This report, the first in a series of reports on public employment, examines workforce diversity, which measures the composition of the state workforce.

 

Barriers to Employment for Formerly Incarcerated Women

A Higher Hurdle: Barriers to Employment for Formerly Incarcerated Women

(December 2008)
Using community participatory research and testing methods, the Henderson Center examined the extent to which a criminal record impacts the employment outcomes of formerly incarcerated women. This report adds new data to the plight of formerly incarcerated women, the fastest growing segment of the criminal justice system, These women suffer significant personal, social, and economic hardships when they return to their home communities, including a increased difficulty in finding employment. The current report examines these difficulties.


Barriers to Employment & Reentry for Formerly Incarcerated People

(December 2008)
This is an annotated bibliography that identifies and summarizes the most significant research in the field of formerly incarcerated persons.