The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation received two Innovation Awards by the National Recreation and Parks Association in 2018.

Earlier this year, the department won NRPA's Innovation of Health Award for its Parks After Dark program. The program seeks to diminish violence and provide services to families and youth. According to NRPA's website, Parks After Dark works to increase "social cohesion, physical activity, perceptions of safety, collaboration among stakeholders to offer services at parks, access to recreational programming and services and cost savings for the county."

Recently, NRPA also presented a new award to the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, its Best in Innovation Award. The department was recognized by popular vote as the "best of the best in park and recreation innovation." This honor was presented at the NRPA Annual Conference in September 2018. To learn about the other innovation awards, visit https://www.nrpa.org/our-work/awards/innovation-awards/.