California As A Bellwether

If you are looking for trends in the health and human services industry, you should be looking towards California, as it may very well be the "bellwether" of policy change. If you aren't familiar with the term, it references an archaic practice wherein shepherds would place a bell on one of the sheep leading their flock. The bell alerted the shepherd to where the flock was heading. Today, the term is used to describe a leader or trendsetter.

So why is California a bellwether? Part of the reason is its size. California has over 38 million residents and more . . .