The Long Beach City Council has put some real weight behind a new Black Community Health Strengths and Needs Assessment, voting unanimously this week to tell the Health and Human Services Department to turn the report into concrete changes in hiring, partnerships, and programs aimed at improving outcomes for Black residents. Staff now has 120 days to come back with specific policy proposals that target neighborhoods where jobs are scarce.
Introduced by Councilmembers Tunua Thrash‑Ntuk, Suely Saro, and Dr. Joni Ricks‑Oddie, the measure directs the City Manager to ensure the Health Department presents the assessment to partner agencies and turns its findings into action. One key charge is to identify so‑called "employment deserts" within Long Beach and recommend ways to boost local hiring, outreach, and recruitment in those areas, as outlined in the council agenda item on Policy Edge.
What the assessment found
Residents and members of the assessment workgroup told city staff that economic stability, secure housing, and mental health sit at the top of local priorities. Early numbers from the assessment showed roughly one in four respondents said they could not afford their rent that month, about a third had recently struggled to find housing, and more than half reported emotional distress. Advocates say that a mix of rent stress, housing instability, and mental strain underlines how jobs, housing, and trauma are bound together. These findings were reported by the Press‑Telegram.
Life expectancy gap and local resources
The assessment also highlighted a life‑and‑death disparity. Black men in Long Beach were found to live about 10 years fewer than white men, a gap community members described as "sobering." In response, the workgroup assembled a resource map of more than 60 culturally specific providers across the city and identified 31 that met locally developed standards for quality and cultural relevance. Coverage of the assessment and the collaborative's materials document these findings, according to the Signal Tribune.
Homelessness and hiring context
The city’s 2025 point‑in‑time count recorded 3,595 people experiencing homelessness, with about 1,224 identifying as Black, roughly one‑third of the total. That overrepresentation tracks closely with the housing insecurity the assessment surfaced. Councilmembers and staff tied the report to existing local hiring tools and ongoing conversations about Measure JB, arguing that city hiring practices and resident‑preference policies could serve as levers to open job pathways in neighborhoods with the fewest opportunities. See the city report and analysis for context from the City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Post.
Next steps
Under the council’s direction, staff must present the assessment to the governing boards of the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach City College, Long Beach Transit, the Port of Long Beach and Long Beach Airport by December 31, 2026. After each presentation, a summary is required. The Health Department also has to return to the council within 120 days with detailed policy proposals to increase local hiring, outreach and recruitment in the employment deserts identified in the report, according to Policy Edge.
Community organizations have welcomed the move, but they are not exactly breaking out the confetti yet. Local organizers and the Black Health Equity Collaborative say they will be watching how resources, timelines and accountability take shape, and they plan to push for workforce programs that include wraparound supports such as training, childcare and housing navigation. The Black Health Equity Collaborative has said it will track implementation of the assessment’s recommendations.
