USC Holds Conference to End Urban Poverty

USC's Price School of Public Policy hosted a two-day conference on "Innovating to End Urban Poverty" on Thursday and Friday in Doheny library.

Scholars and policymakers from across the country spoke on a variety of issues, including healthcare, housing, and education. The event also included the unveiling of a photo exhibition displaying the faces of poverty in Southern California.

The school hosted the event in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the United States' War on Poverty, according to Richard Parks, executive director of the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation.

More than 30 experts from universities across America attended the conference, and 200 students, faculty, researchers, and public officials came to hear the discussions.

A main goal of the conference is to "make the information available to policymakers in ways they can actually use," said Raphael Bostic, director of the Bedrosian Center for Governance and Public Enterprise.

After the forum, the Price school hopes to compile a volume of the new studies and proposals researchers discussed, in the hope that publishing the information will raise awareness of the issue of urban poverty and encourage effective policy to combat it.

USC's urban location has made it an ideal location to begin implementing these policies in the community.

"I think that the challenge for all of us is to think, what can we do? How can we more effectively make sure people of all income levels and of all backgrounds have a comparable level of opportunity, and that's a conversation we'll be having today, next month, and for the years to come," Bostic said.