Project Overview
The tobacco industry heavily targets California’s Latino community through marketing, sponsorships, and political contributions. In response, California Health Collaborative established the Compromiso Adelante (meaning “Engagement Ahead”) Project. Compromiso Adelante focused on the cities of Riverbank and Ceres in Stanislaus County, a rural area in California’s Central Valley with a predominantly Latino population and a higher smoking rate than the state average.
LPC supported the project from 2023 to 2025 to measure the effectiveness of Compromiso Adelante’s efforts to ensure that these two jurisdictions adopted, implemented, and enforced Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL), which is an effective policy solution to reduce overall access and particularly youth access to tobacco products.
Approach
LPC provided research, developed data collection tools, created surveys, and trained Compromiso Adelante staff on how to conduct key informant interviews. We also built tracking tools for each of the project objectives.
In addition, LPC analyzed the findings of a Young Adult Tobacco Purchase Survey (YATPS) and Public Opinion polls conducted by the Compromiso Adelante team. We then used descriptive statistics to summarize the data obtained by these two instruments, which our client used as a post in their social media feed.
With these initiatives, LPC brought the focus to both community engagement and youth participation in protocols for tobacco control.
Methodology
LPC worked with Compromiso Adelante staff to design a public opinion poll that was conducted in the cities of Ceres and Riverbank. The goal of the survey was to improve project staff understanding of community member knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding the availability of tobacco, youth exposure and access to tobacco, and support or opposition for a policy restricting or prohibiting tobacco sales.
When evaluating the results of the YATPS, LPC looked at factors that impacted the collected information, including the time frame during which the samples were gathered and the source for each dataset.
I think the training was great and it taught me about my City Council and how to make public comments.
– Civic Engagement in Ceres Training Participant
Key Findings
Compromiso Adelante made notable advancements toward their goals.
- LPC’s analysis of the YATPS specified exactly which types of commerical establishments had illegally sold tobacco to a young adult in 75% of cases observed by investigators in Ceres.
- When reporting on the public opinion poll, LPC provided visualizations to illustrate the overwhelming support from community members in Riverbank, 78% of whom thought that store owners should have to abide by the obligations set down by a TRL.
- The Ceres Police Department ultimately received a DOJ grant to provide funds for sting operations, after referencing Compromiso Adelantes’ YATPS results in their application.
These findings helped sustain progress in Ceres and laid important groundwork for future advocacy and policy initiatives in Riverbank.
