Engaging community voices and perspectives in projects
located on and around the LA General Medical Center campus
Health Innovation Community Partnership
Vision, Values, Approach & Community Benefit Framework
I. Our Vision
The Health Innovation Community Partnership is an authentic, inclusive and dynamic civic engagement process for community stakeholders to shape and support innovative partnerships, policies, development, and programs that address community health equity needs. The Partnership will ensure that community benefits are explored through the lens of the following focus areas. These are:
Health and Wellness: The Partnership will strengthen and promote programs that create free/low-cost holistic health and wellness services for residents in and around LAC+USC and USC HSC. Issue Areas: Healthcare delivery, mental health, public health/prevention, food systems, active living, etc.
Community Stability: The Partnership will work with local anchor institutions to maintain community stability, promote a healthful environment, provide affordable housing, preserve neighborhood commercial businesses, and strengthen connections to public and/or culturally significant spaces in this area. Issue Areas: Affordable Housing, Housing Stability, Culture/Identity, Business/Job Retention, Community-Serving Businesses, Public Space, etc.
Economic Development: Economic development projects that use public resources, including considerations of potentially new uses for public land should include robust community benefits, such as contracting or partnership opportunities for local businesses, real estate and capital projects that avoid both direct and indirect displacement of current residents and businesses. Issue Area: Health outcome areas affected by innovative programs and research, new jobs/local hire, existing health and educational program opportunities with jobs that can be filled by community members, job quality, community asset building, private investment, philanthropic investment, etc.
Opportunity: The Partnership will promote policies and programs that create workforce development pipelines, reinforce stability, and create opportunities for upward mobility for residents in and connected to the area. Issue Areas: Career pathways, youth empowerment, quality education, legal representation, social services, immigration, etc.
Safety: The Partnership will promote policies and programs that focus on prevention, rehabilitation, and reconciliation with victims, ex-offenders, and the community at-large to achieve the public and domestic safety needed to support a healthy community. Issue Areas: Restorative Justice, Positive Youth Development, Public Safety/Policing, Re-entry Programs
Transportation: The Partnership will support programs and/or infrastructure improvements that facilitate access to healthcare delivery, employment, educational facilities, food access, and social services. Issue Areas: Mobility, walkability, bikeability, complete streets/street network/parking, public transit hubs, digital network, etc.
Environmental Justice: The Partnership will advocate for and promote programs that restore environmental health, remove polluted site conditions, and mitigate environmental impacts on communities from any major new development in the area. Issue Areas: Parks/natural features, natural resource conservation, clean-up of contaminated properties, sustainable practices, water resiliency, and clean energy.
In addition to these seven focus areas, the Partnership’s participants are committed to and invested in an ongoing, authentic communication process that reflects community ownership of public institutions. The Partnership will leverage, align, and support concurrent efforts and creates a model for sustainable engagement in the long term as additional focus areas arise.
II. Our Values
There are 12 key principles that guide the work of the Partnership, ensuring that we can fulfill our Vision and Mission efficiently through our convenings and communications.
III. Our Approach
We see the Partnership as serving three unique functions: convener, advocate, and amplifier of community voices.
V. Our Community Benefits Framework
A Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) is a formal agreement (a signed contract) between community groups (inclusive of community organizations and residents) and a real estate developer that requires a development project to include specific amenities and/or mitigations to the local community. In exchange, the community groups agree to publicly support the project, or at least not oppose it.
These vary widely by community, but there are some common key questions a community collaborative can consider before entering in the negotiations that may help clarify the ultimate ‘contractual ‘asks’. When a community engages in a CBA dialogue with developers and local government, it is important that their ‘asks’ are measurable and that there are clear processes for measuring their impact. The contracts should include a regular review by all parties of the key elements, as well as enforceable language whereby consequences are identified for non-compliance.
