This month, we are pleased to share with you the findings from our survey of 800 Los Angeles renter households, which Jovanna Rosen, Sean Angst, Soledad de Gregorio, and I conducted to better understand the impacts of the housing affordability crisis in our region. The project aimed to understand how rental affordability operates, uncovering how it impacts residents in Los Angeles specifically, and how its effects differ across populations.

As you read these updates and other items from this month's newsletter, I welcome your ideas for innovative approaches to tackling the complex issues of our time. I can be reached directly at gpainter@usc.edu if you would like to connect.

The Los Angeles region faces a deep and worsening housing affordability crisis. A team of researchers from the USC Price Center for Social Innovation—led by Jovanna Rosen, Sean Angst, Soledad De Gregorio, and Gary Painter—conducted an in-person, door-to-door survey of 800 Los Angeles renter households to better understand the impacts of the housing affordability crisis in our region. The project aimed to understand how rental affordability operates, uncovering how it impacts residents in Los Angeles specifically, and how its effects differ across populations. Surveys were conducted during 2019, in Spanish and English, across the Los Angeles Promise Zone (LAPZ), in Central Los Angeles, and the South Los Angeles Promise Zone (SLATE-Z).

This report presents the first set of findings from the survey conducted in 2019, focused on understanding the coping strategies and adjustments that renters in Los Angeles make in response to high rents.

To read more about the report, visit the webpage here.

This briefing paper draws together ideas about the next generation of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) that will be better placed to deliver more innovative approaches and act as positive disruptors in local public services. It is based on research in four SIBs managed by Bridges Outcomes Partnerships (Bridges) and ideas developed by researchers at the Policy Evaluation and Research Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation at the University of Southern California.

Theory suggests that for SIBs to realize their full potential as incubators of innovation they need to incorporate mechanisms that allow people with lived experience to work with other stakeholders to co-create services that meet people’s needs and that draw on the strengths and assets of people who use services. This model of working provides strong foundations for challenging established ways of working in public services and changing local systems. SIBs that unlocked these possibilities could play a more significant role in public sector transformation.This study of four SIBs provides some evidence of how adopting a strengths-based approach can support and is intertwined with delivering social innovation. This study shows how the structure of the SIB can facilitate a move to strengths-based working. Key elements of the SIB structure included:

by: NDSC and Community Literature Initiative

This story was developed in partnership with Community Literature Initiative, an organization working to empower poets of color and those from underserved communities to have a voice through poetry and performance, and to share their narratives through published books.

Professor Christine Beckman, Associate Director of the Price Center, Price Family Chair in Social Innovation, and Professor of Public Policy spoke on several panels and podcasts during November and December:

17th Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference: On November 5, Dr. Beckman presented at a virtual conference for the University of Indiana. She discussed a paper, co-authored with Marian Gatzweiler and Corinna Frey-Heger, titled "Distributed experimentation in response to Grand Challenges: Pursuing alternative solutions to global displacement."

Questions & Unanswers About Social Innovation (QUASI) Seminar Series: On December 11, Dr. Beckman was a moderator for a seminar series conducted by the Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation. The session was titled, "Is the Firm a Meaningful Unit of Analysis for Social Innovation?" Speakers included Johanna Mair, Marc Ventresca, Irene Henriques, and Tyler Wry. Read more about the session here, watch the full session here, or view Dr. Beckman's slides here.

Podcast, "Overworked: The Price of Parenting in a Pandemic": Lastly, Dr. Beckman was featured in a USC Price student-produced podcast, The Price of Policy. In the episode, Holly Milburn-Smith and Dr. Christine Beckman discuss policies regarding the issues examined in Beckman's book, Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working, and Parenting in the Digital Age. Listen to the podcast here.

Following the 2020 election, Roberto Suro, Associate Director of the Price Center, and Professor in both the Annenberg School and Price School, published an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times, titled "Latino political power is still growing — but not the way many people expected." Read the article here.

Stacia Fewox at stacia.fewox@usc.edu.

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