On May 12th, One Degree hosted a Social Services Lunch & Learn at the Irvine Foundation in Los Angeles. The convening spotlighted emerging models of cross-sector collaboration aimed at improving social service coordination in Los Angeles County. With presentations from leading clinical and community partners, the event highlighted practical tools and partnerships that address the social drivers of health (SDoH), adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and benefit access for underserved populations.
1. Medical-Financial Partnership: Benefits Explorer Tool
The Benefits Explorer Tool (BET)—co-developed by One Degree and the Medical-Financial Partnership, led by Co-Directors Monique Holguin and Dr. Adam Schickedanz—tackles the persistent under-enrollment in anti-poverty programs among Medi-Cal families. This mobile-friendly, login-free screener connects families to essential programs like CalFresh, WIC, and Lifeline.
With bilingual access and privacy protections for immigrant families, BET has been successfully deployed at three LA County Department of Health Services (DHS) clinics, resulting in over 1,100 benefit applications and an 84% user satisfaction rate. New 2024 updates include integration with Metro LIFE transit benefits and CalKIDS education savings accounts. BET exemplifies low-barrier, high-impact digital public infrastructure.
2. ACEs LA and One Degree: Trauma-Informed Care & Digital Referral Management
Represented by Nina Thompson, Julie Ruedaflores, and Nicole Morales, ACEs LA operates within LA County’s DHS and has screened more than 60,000 patients since 2020 to identify and address childhood trauma. The presentation underscored the widespread impact of ACEs—1 in 6 adults report four or more ACEs—which are strongly correlated with chronic disease.
ACEs LA uses a three-tiered response strategy that connects patients to both clinical and community resources, the latter powered by One Degree’s enterprise referral platform. Through the ACEs Network of Care (NoC), over 700 DHS staff have been trained to make trackable, closed-loop referrals to a vetted network of 60+ community-based organizations (CBOs). These CBOs provide support across domains such as mental health, parenting, special education, domestic violence, and substance use recovery.
The platform enables both in-network and out-of-network referrals between clinics and CBOs, improving coordination without limiting access to available services.
3. Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC): Digital PRAPARE & SDoH Innovation
Joanna Quintanilla of NEVHC shared how their 18-clinic FQHC network screens for social drivers using the PRAPARE tool. Historically a high-touch, community health worker-led model, NEVHC is now piloting digital PRAPARE assessments via SMS, integrated with One Degree for automated referrals to relevant resources.
This streamlined workflow allows for proactive, large-scale SDoH screening directly integrated into the EHR. Current pilots include outreach for well-child exams and diabetes care coordination, with future plans to scale across both pediatric and adult populations.
Key Themes and Takeaways:
- Digital Infrastructure with a Human Touch – Tools like BET and PRAPARE demonstrate how user-centered design, when paired with trusted clinical relationships, can significantly increase access to benefits and services.
- Sustained Ecosystem Building – The ACEs LA and One Degree partnership shows how long-term investments in training, technology integration, and cross-sector collaboration can build a scalable, durable referral system.
- Clinic–CBO Synergy – Shared data, training, and coordination between health providers and community-based organizations are essential to closing service gaps and improving outcomes for families affected by trauma and poverty.
Despite today’s turbulent political environment, the event underscored LA County’s enduring commitment to integrating social and medical care, driven by collaborative infrastructure, trusted partnerships, and public-interest technology.
👉 Interested in learning more? Click here for a full copy of all the presentations.