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Chicano Studies Research Center
Community-Engaged Research

Thriving Youth Study

This research project is an extension of our California Freedom Summer 2022 program and has reached over 8,000 young people across California. Research sites include Oxnard, Northern Santa Barbara County, East Coachella Valley, Imperial Valley, and Santa Cruz County. Findings from this study will be used to guide local institutions in providing educational, employment, civic, and health-related programs and inform grassroots campaigns, and local and statewide policy. This research is connected to Latina Futures 2050 Lab, a research initiative spearheaded by the CSRC, as it includes an oversample of young Latinas.

Photo of about twenty organizers smiling, standing, and posing together at the Thriving Youth Study launch event in Oxnard.
Organizers at the Thriving Youth Study launch event in Oxnard, California,
February 6, 2023. (CSRC)

Photo of eighteen student researchers and CSRC staff posing together and smiling after completing data collection for the Thriving Youth Study.
Student researchers and CSRC staff celebrate the completion of data collection for the Oxnard Thriving Youth Study, Oxnard, California, August 12, 2023. (CSRC)

The CSRC worked in collaboration with Oxnard College, the City of Oxnard, the UCLA Labor Center, CSU Channel Islands, and community partners in the region to identify the aspirations as well as the challenges facing young adults in the region. A series of reports sponsored by Latina Futures 2050 Lab have been published on Indigenous Oxnard women, the gendered trajectories of Latina/o young adults, the Latina wage gap, and the trends among Oxnard’s young adult Latina workforce. 

Reports:

Press Release:

Video:

Photo of fourteen people posing together, some standing and others sitting at table with a red College of the Dessert tablecloth.
East Coachella Valley Thriving Youth Study Launch at College of the Desert in Indio, California, October 12, 2023. (CSRC)

The CSRC worked in collaboration with College of the Desert, Youth Leadership Institute and Alianza Coachella Valley to identify the aspirations and the challenges facing young adults in the region. A series of reports will be published Fall 2025 on the gendered and economic realities of East Coachella farmworker young adults, and the civic engagement and mental health challenges and opportunities of East Coachella young adults.

  Video:

Photo of fifteen youth researchers, leaders, and representatives posing together in front of Racial Equity and Youth Empowerment Commission backdrops.
Youth researchers and leaders of the Imperial Valley Thriving Youth Study State join representatives from the California Racial Equity and Youth Empowerment commissions at Imperial Valley College, Imperial, California, March 19, 2025. Photo by Angie Ruiz.

The CSRC worked in collaboration with Imperial Valley College Workforce Development Division, UCSC Institute for Social Transformation, UCLA Latino Politics and Policy Institute, Latino Data Hub, and USC Equity Research Institute and Imperial Valley Equity and Justice to conduct research on the gendered and economic realities of young adults in the region as well as their vision for a more sustainable and equitable future.  

Reports: 

Press:

Photo of two youth researchers holding reports beside a research poster about supporting thriving youth in Northern Santa Barbara County.
Youth researchers present research findings from the Northern Santa Barbara County Thriving Youth Study at the “State of Latinas in the Central Coast Symposium,” Oxnard, California, May 3, 2025. (CSRC)

The CSRC worked in collaboration with Allan Hancock College, Future Leaders of America and Future for Lompoc Youth, to examine the educational and civic outcomes of young adults in the region. The survey also gauged young adults’ support for local measures that could allocate funding to schools and youth programming. 

Report:

Press:

Photo of a youth researcher holding a clipboard while talking with a young person outside the Cabrillo College entrance.
A youth researcher surveying students and young workers at Cabrillo College in Spring 2024.
(UCSC Center for Labor and Community)

The CSRC worked in collaboration with the UCSC Center for Labor and Community to examine the experiences of young workers, including Latinas who compromise a growing segment for the workforce. 

Reports: 

Press: