Announcing the Launch
We are excited to announce the launch of the RAND-USC Epstein Family Foundation Center for Veterans Policy Research at USC which will provide funding and research opportunities to inform federal, state and local policy on veterans and military families.
The gift of $2 million over 5 years from the Epstein Family Foundation will impact research and policy in three important areas:
1) Reducing veteran suicide
2) Eliminating veteran homelessness
3) Improving veteran success post-transition
This gift dovetails with the work of the Dworak-Peck School of Social Work’s Center for Innovation and Research for Veterans and Military Families as well as policy research from the Sol Price School of Public Policy. The center will be directed by Dr. Carl Castro.
Dr. Carl Castro is the Director of the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families, as well as the Director of Military and Veteran Programs and a Professor in the Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Dr. Castro joined the faculty in 2013 after serving 33 years in the U.S. Army, where he obtained the rank of Colonel and served in a variety of research and leadership positions, including as Director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. Dr. Castro is a combat veteran himself and currently also serves as Chair of a NATO research group on military veteran transitions.
One of the first projects that the Epstein Center will undertake, led by Dr. Sara Kintzle, is a needs analysis of the Veteran population in San Diego County. The findings from this assessment will enable local community organizations to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the unmet needs of veterans in their communities as well as learn what services veterans find most useful. These findings will also inform the needs of the wider veteran-serving community to identify gaps or improvements to veteran policy.
USC will partner with the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute to highlight reciprocal research, share findings, and inform policy stakeholders on how to better support veterans and military families across the globe.