The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems. We collect and tag every story, providing you with the ability to find coverage of effective or promising ideas and approaches— by issue, location, journalist, and success factor (strategic insights that emerge as patterns).
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007770906/california-wildfires-prescribed-fire.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Emma Cott
Caroline Kim
Elie Khadra
The New York Times
29 July 2021
Video / 5-15 Minutes
Prescribed burns are an ancient method of preventing more destructive, out-of-control wildfires. They fell into disuse for decades, worsening today's wildfire risks. California and federal forestry officials want to "treat" 1 million acres per year by 2025 with tree- and brush-clearing and prescribed burns. But they are running far behind that pace as government resources get consumed by the need to fight wildfires. Private crews could expand the capacity to conduct prescribed burns, but financial liability and other barriers must be removed first.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/equity-lab/article253074088.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Jeong Park
Cameron Clark
Sacramento Bee
27 July 2021
Video / 5-15 Minutes
Employment programs that provide extra benefits such as paid training, books, childcare, and rent incentives allow people to switch to jobs in fields that pay living wages. Sacramento’s Digital UpSkill and Jobs Plus are two examples of programs that provide opportunities for those who need the extra support.
https://klcjournal.com/civic-engagement-academies?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Stan Finger
KLC Journal
27 July 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Civic engagement academies throughout Kansas provide participants with behind-the-scenes views of how their local government operates. Participants meet with emergency responders, learn how city officials put together a budget and hear from those who maintain municipal utilities. Understanding the inner workings of city operations helps citizens become more engaged in bettering those operations and find ways to be involved outside of running for office. Participation often brings to light city resources they didn’t know existed, which they are quick to share with their fellow residents on social media.
https://www.kxan.com/top-stories/austin-youth-re-entry-program-has-15-recidivism-rate-compared-to-75-nationwide?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Clare O'Connor
KXAN-TV
26 July 2021
Broadcast TV News / 3-5 Minutes
Jail to Jobs pays youth while they get trained for jobs in construction, manufacturing, landscaping, and cooking. The youth come from youth detention, the streets, probation, and foster care and their trainers are formerly incarcerated. Jail to Jobs, with four locations in Austin, has helped more than 600 young people find employment despite their pasts. Only 15% of its graduates have been jailed afterward, a lower-than-average recidivism rate.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/07/23/nyc-mental-health-911-pilot-program-harlem/8053555002?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Ryan W. Miller
USA Today
23 July 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
A pilot project in three New York Police Department precincts of Harlem showed in its first month that it can divert some mental-health crises away from hospitalization and toward other forms of help. Teams of medics and social workers took about one-quarter of such calls, sometimes at NYPD invitation. They sent about half of the people in crisis to a hospital, significantly less often than the police do in such cases. The goal in replacing police is to avoid needless violence and arrests in non-violent, non-criminal emergencies.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/nycs-non-police-mental-health-pilot-increasing-rate-of-those-getting-aid-data-show/3165520?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Darlene Rodriguez
WNBC-TV
22 July 2021
Broadcast TV News / Under 3 Minutes
In its first month as a pilot project in a part of Harlem, New York's Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) handled one-quarter of 911 calls for mental health crises. Despite fears of danger to the teams of social workers and paramedics, police backup was needed only seven times out of 110 cases. More people accepted help from the non-police teams than in the past from teams of police and paramedics. And that help depended half as often on hospital visits. People got helped on the scene or went to community centers for services. The city plans to expand the program.
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/07/22/mental-health-responders-programs?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Robin Young
Allison Hagan
WBUR
22 July 2021
Radio Talk Show / 5-15 Minutes
The police chief in Eugene, Ore., home of the CAHOOTS program, which other communities see as the model for finding alternatives to policing, supports the program because it saves lives and saves the city money. Sending unarmed medics and social workers on calls involving behavioral health problems, mental health crises, and substance-use psychotic episodes automatically de-escalates many situations because of the lack of a police presence.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/for-girls-with-mothers-in-prison-a-summer-camp-offers-much-needed-support?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Amna Nawaz
PBS NewsHour
21 July 2021
Broadcast TV News / 5-15 Minutes
For three days each summer, the Girls Embracing Mothers (GEM) camp near Dallas gives girls an escape from their daily reality of being denied a normal relationship with their incarcerated mothers. Founded by a lawyer whose own mother was incarcerated, GEM combines typical summer-camp fun with trust-building exercises. During camp and afterward, the girls become part of a community of peers who understand each other's trauma – which puts them at higher risk of dropping out of school, mental health problems, and homelessness – in a place where they need not feel shame for their mothers' status.
https://www.thecut.com/2021/07/restorative-justice-lessons.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Amelia Schonbek
The Cut
21 July 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.
https://calmatters.org/justice/2021/07/california-gun-law-failing?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Robert Lewis
CalMatters
21 July 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
Two decades ago, California became the first state to create a system to track and seize guns from people no longer legally permitted to possess a gun. Thousands of guns have been seized. But the database of gun owners now barred from gun possession because of a violent offense, a serious mental illness, or a restraining order has ballooned and many people slip through the cracks of a system "mired in chronic shortcomings." Local police often fail to support the system and the state's investigation bureau is understaffed.
https://klcjournal.com/zoom-boom-civic-engagement?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Stan Finger
KLC Journal
20 July 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When courthouses and in-person government meetings shut down because of COVID-19, officials satisfied Kansas’ open meeting mandate by using pandemic relief aid to equip buildings with the technology needed to live stream proceedings and allow constituents to comment remotely. Crowds watching on platforms like Facebook Live were substantially higher than in-person attendance had ever been. Several cities linked agendas online and found creative ways to include public comments in meetings. Advocates are looking to maintain the public’s increased civic engagement as courts and government offices are reopening.
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2021-07-20/vail-pays-property-owners-to-keep-housing-for-local-workers-could-it-work-in-idaho?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rachel D. Cohen
Boise State Public Radio (KBSX)
20 July 2021
Multi-Media / Under 3 Minutes
An affordable housing initiative in Vail, Colorado is paying owners to reserve rentals for those who live in the area year-round, instead of selling to part-time residents. The success of the program is inspiring Ketchum, Idaho, a community on the search for affordable-housing solutions.
Our issue area taxonomy was adapted from the PCS Taxonomy with definitions by the Foundation Center, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Fondriest Environmental, David De Wit / Community Eye Health, Linda Steil / Herald Post, John Amis / UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences – OCCS, Andy B, Peter Garnhum, Thomas Hawk, 7ty9, Isriya Paireepairit, David Berger, UnLtd The Foundation For Social Entrepreneurs, Michael Dunne, Burak Kebapci, and Forrest Berkshire / U.S. Army Cadet Command public affairs
Photos are licensed under Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license, and are credited to the following photographers:
Ra'ed Qutena, 段 文慶, Fabio Campo, City Clock Magazine, Justin Norman, scarlatti2004, Gary Simmons, Kathryn McCallum, and Nearsoft Inc
Photos are licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license / Desaturated from original, and are credited to the following photographers:
Burak Kebapci and SCY.
Photos are licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) and are credited to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Conference attendee listening to speaker, Jenifer Daniels / Colorstock getcolorstock.com.
Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images
Photo Credit: Sonia Narang
