Zev Yaroslavsky Family Support Center New Center Offers Improved Health and Wellness for Los Angeles County Families

The Challenge

To improve the health and well-being of Los Angeles County families by creating a new health and human resource services center. The design must promote employee morale and increase interdepartmental connectivity while significantly increasing open space in the city of Van Nuys.

The Design Solution

The Zev Yaroslavsky Family Support Center consolidates seven Los Angeles County health and human services programs into one multi-agency location.

The Center’s 1,000 employees work to enhance the well-being of children and families. Services offered at the Center focus on human health, safety, economic well-being, and workforce readiness.

Combining diverse services in a single campus means that County clients no longer need to schedule multiple appointments in different locations, reducing their time away from work and lessening the stress of managing travel with children. The design also removes silos between caseworkers, resulting in more efficient and effective delivery of client services.

The Design Impact

Empathy and imagination drove the County of Los Angeles to envision bold institutional change in its highly qualitative and progressive program for the new Zev Yaroslavsky Family Support Center in the San Fernando Valley of California.

Together with our client, HKS set out to transform an institutional environment that serves the most fragile of its constituents by providing an inspiring, supportive and respectful environment for those seeking support, as well as those providing it.

Our design reflects a modern, forward-looking civic institution intent on projecting a transparent, welcoming impression. The award-winning, sustainable design inspires community pride and achieved LEED Gold NC certification.