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Los Angeles County Parks And Rec Receives NRPA Best In Innovation Award
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through NRPA's website.
ASHBURN, Va. — At its annual conference, held Sept. 25-27, 2018, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) awarded the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation both its Best in Innovation Award and its Innovation in Health Award. New this year and selected by popular vote, the Best in Innovation Award recognizes the best of the best in parks and recreation programming.
The program that won Los Angeles County Parks and Rec the award was "Parks After Dark". The award-winning program launched as the prevention component of the county’s Gang Violence Reduction Initiative at three parks in 2010, expanding to 33 parks by 2018. "Parks After Dark" targets communities with high rates of poverty, violence, obesity and systems-involved youth. It aims to use access to recreational programming and services and cost savings for the county to decrease violence and increase social cohesion, physical activity, and perceptions of safety.
Other 2018 NRPA Innovation Award winners include the Forest Preserves of Cook County, IL (Innovation in Conservation), Chicago Park District, Chicago, IL (Innovation in Social Equality), and Glastonbury Riverfront Park, Glastonbury, CT (Innovation in Park Design).
A full list of the awards can be found on the NRPA website.
California, News, Outdoors, Parks & Recreation, Tech & Trends