# data[].attributes.headline
Cedar County Action Planning Meeting Report

# data[].attributes.subject
Cedar County Action Planning Meeting Report

# data[].attributes.headline
Y1 Assessment: Tipton Schools Concession Stand Report

# data[].attributes.subject
Y1 Assessment: Tipton Schools Concession Stand Report

# data[].attributes.headline
Y1 Assessment: Tipton Aquatic Center Concession Stand Report

# data[].attributes.subject
Y1 Assessment: Tipton Aquatic Center Concession Stand Report

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
07. Cedar_Aquatic Center_Concession Stand Assessment Report

# data[].attributes.headline
Y1 Assessment: Food & Nutrition Environment

# data[].attributes.subject
Y1 Assessment: Food & Nutrition Environment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
06. Cedar_Food & Nutrition Environment Assessment

# data[].attributes.headline
LEAP Year 2 Coalition Operating Principles

# data[].attributes.subject
LEAP Year 2 Coalition Operating Principles

# data[].attributes.body
*Revisions with contact information forthcoming

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LEAP Coalition Operating Principles Flyer 110524

# data[].attributes.body
*Revisions with contact information forthcoming

# data[].attributes.headline
Coalition Expectation + Milestones & Measures

# data[].attributes.subject
Coalition Expectation + Milestones & Measures

# data[].attributes.headline
Towns Selected for 2025 Community Visioning Program

# data[].attributes.subject
Towns Selected for 2025 Community Visioning Program

# data[].attributes.body
As a result of our walk audit, Tipton applied and was selected for the Community Visioning Program!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Towns Selected for 2025 Community Visioning Program

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Seven Iowa communities have been selected to participate in the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program in 2025. This award-winning program integrates technical landscape planning and design techniques with sustainable community action to assist community leaders and volunteers in making sound and meaningful decisions about the local landscape.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LEAP September Meeting.docx | Powered by Box

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LEAP August Meeting.docx | Powered by Box

# data[].attributes.body
Join us on October 2nd at the extension office. All community members are invited, please help spread the word!

# data[].attributes.body
Please share so we can obtain feedback on where to have our next walk audit!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cedar_LEAP Social Media Post_Walk Audit Routes_English (1)

# data[].attributes.body
Shared use, joint use, open use, or community use agreements allow public access to existing facilities by defining terms and conditions for sharing the costs and risks associated with expanding a property’s use. Use this website to review implementation examples and resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What Works for Health Strategy

Shared use, joint use, open use, or community use agreements allow public access to existing facilities by defining terms and conditions for sharing the costs and risks associated with expanding a property's use. Public, private, or nonprofit organizations such as schools, colleges, community and senior centers, government entities in charge of unused or underused public land, faith-based organizations, hospitals, the military, or mixed-use development projects can create shared use agreements to allow community access to their property before or after hours. Shared use agreements can be formal (i.e., based on a written, legal document) or informal (i.e., based on historical practice), and can be tailored to meet community needs.

What could this strategy improve?

Expected Benefits
Our evidence rating is based on the likelihood of achieving these outcomes:

Potential Benefits
Our evidence rating is not based on these outcomes, but these benefits may also be possible:

What does the research say about effectiveness?

There is some evidence that shared use agreements increase opportunities for physical activity, , , , , . Such agreements are also a suggested strategy to increase physical activity levels, , . However, additional evidence is needed to confirm effects.

By opening facilities to community members and linking youth with physical activity opportunities in school gyms, tracks and fields, community fitness and sports facilities, and parks and playgrounds, shared use agreements increase access to places for physical activity, . Shared use agreements may also increase physical activity levels, especially in communities with low incomes, , , , . Establishing organized physical activity programs along with shared use agreements can substantially increase facilities' use; , including in rural settings. Community members' perceived safety of school grounds is also associated with increased facility use.

Since these agreements use existing facilities, they are typically a lower cost way to expand programs and services. In a North Carolina-based study, shared use agreements did not lead to significant increases in school operating costs, although facility maintenance and repairs may be higher over time due to increased use. In Los Angeles, school districts' shared use agreements have been associated with small increases in expenditures and very few unanticipated costs. Common barriers to shared use agreements include concerns about liability, additional costs for maintenance, insurance, and staffing, and issues prioritizing use, ; establishing formal shared use partnership agreements may help address such concerns although informal or open use agreements may be more manageable, especially for community partners with limited resources.

California-based research offers seven steps for effective shared use partnership development, which include identifying needs and partners, building relationships and political support in the local community, formalizing partnerships, and monitoring the ongoing communication, progress and impact of the agreement. Strong shared use agreements may include indemnity and insurance provisions, explicit remedies in case of a breach, comprehensive provisions on the sharing of facilities, and creation of a "Joint Use Committee" to oversee implementation. Additional outreach may be needed to increase access for community members who are underserved, in addition to school-aged youth. One study of schools in Ohio suggests informal shared use agreements may be more common than formal agreements; experts recommend organizations that want to establish formal agreements with schools include examples of written agreements, cost management plans, and current research on the connection between physical activity and academic and learning performance to support their proposal.

Shared use agreements may also increase access to libraries, performance art spaces, social services, and additional meeting, event and activity spaces. In Los Angeles, neighborhoods within a mile of schools with shared use agreements were more likely to have residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino, and residents with lower incomes or education levels; however, outreach may be needed to increase residents' awareness and use of facilities. Experts also suggest promoting comprehensive agreements that cover both indoor and outdoor facilities and expanding shared use agreements in municipalities with small populations, lower education levels, and in the South.

Implementation Examples

As of 2014, Arkansas, California, Kansas, and Texas enacted legislation to enable or encourage shared use agreements for school facilities. The Arkansas Statewide Joint-Use Agreement Grant Program has funded 152 joint use agreements in 60 school districts since it started in 2009.

Many cities, counties, and states use shared use agreements to expand access to places for physical activity, including New York City; Seattle; Lake Worth, Greenacres, and Palm Springs, Florida; Fairfax County, Virginia; Hamilton County, Ohio; Pitt County, North Carolina, and California. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) have a shared use agreement, and as part of their agreement, the AYSO recruits participants from LAUSD's attendance zone and provides scholarships for students who lack economic resources. One study suggests formal shared use agreements are more common in large school districts, urban areas, and in the West compared with the Midwest, South, and Northeast.

Faith-based organizations across the country are also using shared use agreements to expand access to their recreational facilities and programs, as in North Carolina.

Implementation Resources

ChangeLab-Shared use - ChangeLab Solutions. Shared use.

AHA-VFHK toolkits - American Heart Association (AHA). Voices for healthy kids (VFHK): Resources and toolkits.

CDC DNPAO-Data - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Nutrition Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO). Nutrition, physical activity and obesity: Data, trends and maps online tool.

LHC-Rockeymoore 2014 - Rockeymoore M, Moscetti C, Fountain A. Rural childhood obesity prevention toolkit. Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC), Center for Global Policy Solutions, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 2014.

HOST-PA - Healthy Out-of-School Time (HOST) Coalition. Resources: Physical activity (PA).

WeThrive-Toolbox - WeThrive!, Hamilton County Public Health. Toolbox and resources used as part of the WeThrive! initiative.

Related What Works for Health Strategies

To see citations and implementation resources for this strategy, visit:
countyhealthrankings.org/strategies-and-solutions/what-works-for-health/strategies/shared-use-agreements

To see all strategies:
countyhealthrankings.org/whatworks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create contracts that support community access to existing public, private, or nonprofit facilities before or after business hours; also called joint use, open use, or community use agreements

# data[].attributes.headline
CDC Food Service Guidelines Organizational Assessment Tool

# data[].attributes.subject
CDC Food Service Guidelines Organizational Assessment Tool

# data[].attributes.body
A CDC tool to help you assess your food service guidelines.

# data[].attributes.headline
Food Service Guidelines Landscape Assessment Guide

# data[].attributes.subject
Food Service Guidelines Landscape Assessment Guide

# data[].attributes.body
A guide to conducting a quick and easy food service guidelines landscape assessment.

# data[].attributes.body
A two-page summary of healthy meeting policies and pledges.

# data[].attributes.body
A toolkit to help you plan healthy meeting guidelines or pledges for your organization.

# data[].attributes.headline
Active Communities Tool Assessment Modules

# data[].attributes.subject
Active Communities Tool Assessment Modules

# data[].attributes.body
The Active Communities Tool Assessment Modules assesses strengths and weaknesses of community plans, policies, and resources for improving community built environments for physical activity.

# data[].attributes.body
Use this to help plan a Pop-Up Demonstration. Pop-up demonstration projects typically involve community members working together to bring attention to overlooked spaces, address neighborhood issues, or demonstrate desired improvements within a public or sometimes private space such as a vacant building or underused lot.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LEAP Action Planning Presentation Padlet

# data[].attributes.headline
Action Planning for Fruit and Vegetable Incentives worksheet

# data[].attributes.subject
Action Planning for Fruit and Vegetable Incentives worksheet

# data[].attributes.headline
Action Planning for Food Service Guidelines worksheet

# data[].attributes.subject
Action Planning for Food Service Guidelines worksheet

# data[].attributes.headline
Action Planning for Community Design for Physical Activity worksheet

# data[].attributes.subject
Action Planning for Community Design for Physical Activity worksheet

# data[].attributes.headline
Cedar County Data for Decision Makers (DDM)

# data[].attributes.subject
Cedar County Data for Decision Makers (DDM)

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Implement local level policies and activities to connect pedestrian, bicycle, or transit transportation networks to everyday destinations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Physical Activity Strategy: Connect Transportation Networks to Everyday Destinations

# data[].attributes.subject
Physical Activity Strategy: Connect Transportation Networks to Everyday Destinations

# data[].attributes.body
Resource:

https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/community-strategies/activity-friendly-routes-to-everyday-destinations.html

Use the space to comment below on how you feel this strategy area could be addressed in your community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Coordinate the uptake and expansion of existing fruit and vegetable voucher incentive AND produce prescription programs.  

# data[].attributes.headline
Nutrition Strategy 2: Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Programs

# data[].attributes.subject
Nutrition Strategy 2: Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Programs

# data[].attributes.body
Resource:

https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/state-and-local-strategies/priority-incentives-prescriptions.html

Use the space to comment below on how you feel this strategy area could be addressed in your community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Promote food service and nutrition guidelines and associated healthy food procurement in facilities, programs, or organizations where food is sold, served, or distributed.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nutrition Strategy 1: Healthy Food Procurement and Food Service Guidelines

# data[].attributes.subject
Nutrition Strategy 1: Healthy Food Procurement and Food Service Guidelines

# data[].attributes.body
Resource:

https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/state-and-local-strategies/priority-nutrition-strategy.html

Use the space to comment below on how you feel this strategy area could be addressed in your community.