All Research Topics

The USC Price Center for Social Innovation brings an interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach to social innovation research. Through relevant, rigorous research, Price Center faculty explore a variety of topics that seek to inform and advance new models of equity and opportunity for low-income children and families.

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The Social Innovation Trap: Critical Insights into an Emerging Field
Emergency Aid Programs at USC and LACCD
Education
An Evaluation of the Emergency Aid Programs at the University of Southern California and Los Angeles Community College District

In its third year of implementation, the Leonetti/ O’Connell Family Foundation’s emergency aid programs at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) have continued to provide direct cash assistance to students experiencing financial hardships.

Research
Criminal Justice
Building Safety In Los Angeles: A Policy Agenda For Local Health and Safer Communitie

This report aims to assist jurisdictions trying to reimagine public safety through focusing on key policy areas, and applies policy frameworks to present day Los Angeles.

Research
Housing Instability
Accelerating Employment Retention Strategies for the Precariously Housed

This report outlines the findings from the project’s activities including an employer survey, Innovation Lab sessions, and case studies

Research
Education
The Segregation Index

The Segregation Index will be a comprehensive resource for tracking neighborhood and school segregation in the U.S., across every neighborhood and every school.

Research
Inequality
Resilience and Rebuilding: Recommendations for an Equitable Recovery in South L.A.

This report examines ways to improve pandemic recovery and to remove pre-pandemic barriers in South Los Angeles.

Research
Inequality
Examining the Complex Social Safety Net For Low-Income Working Families

This report examines the resources and benefits available to families and identifies the points at which the social safety net may become a barrier to economic independence.

Research SIB
Social Innovation
Social Impact Bonds 2.0

The complexity of social problems, paired with constrained public resources, requires social innovators to identify new approaches for financing the delivery of social services.

The Power Divide: Mobile Communication in Los Angeles’ Skid Row

Hernan Galperin, Francois Bar, Hoan Nguyen

Mobile Media & Communication

Year: 2020

This study explores mobile phone use among people experiencing homelessness in downtown Los Angeles. It explores usage patterns and connectivity challenges, and how these affect access to social services as well as opportunities for information seeking, skills building, and social … Continue reading →

No Going Back: Together for an Equitable and Inclusive Los Angeles

USC Equity Research Institute, Committee for Greater LA, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

USC Equity Research Institute (ERI): Data and Analysis to Power Social Change

Year: 2020

Prior to the stay-at-home public health directive, civic boosters promoted Los Angeles as a metropolis that was confronting its problems and making progress. Local and state governments enjoyed budget surpluses, unprecedented investments were committed by Angelenos to respond to homelessness, … Continue reading →

Museums as Classrooms: The Academic and Behavioral Impacts of “School in the Park”

Johanna Lacoe, Gary Painter, Danielle Williams

American Educational Research Association

Year: 2020

Access to community cultural institutions such as museums, zoos, and theaters has the potential to improve students’ educational experiences. This article estimates the impact of School in the Park, a museum-based educational program for low-income students that takes place within … Continue reading →

State and Local Aid for Immigrants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Innovating Inclusion

Roberto Suro and Hannah Findling

Center for Migration Studies

Year: 2020

State and local governments have exercised unusual powers since the early days of the Coronavirus lockdowns, ordering businesses to open and close, the wearing of masks, and much else. Amidst it all, renewed activism on immigration issues in some parts … Continue reading →

Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working, and Parenting in the Digital Age

Christine M. Beckman and Melissa Mazmanian

Year: 2020

Professor Christine Beckman, Associate Director of the Price Center, Price Family Chair of Social Innovation, and Professor of Public Policy, and co-author Melissa Mazmanian, have a new book called Dreams of the Overworked: Living, Working and Parenting in the Digital … Continue reading →

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