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Iowa foster care system changes prove positive and effective

Libby Dowsett

October 20, 2021 |

Street Roots |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Iowa

Iowa in 2017 imposed new rules for the agencies that run group homes for children in foster care. The rules have greatly reduced the frequency with which children are moved from place to place far from their families, a common practice that can deepen the trauma they suffer. By paying differently for such care, the state reduced the incentive agencies had to keep their facilities full. Instead, they're working more closely with families to heal them and get children back to a healthier home life.

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Sanitation Solutions: When the city let them down, Philly rose up — with orange trash cans

Meir Rinde

October 18, 2021 |

WHYY |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A Philadelphia-based program called I Love Thy Hood's stepped up to help attack the city's dirty streets problem. Fueled entirely by volunteer efforts, the program has placed more than 106 cans on blocks around the city and collected over 100,000 pounds of trash.

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In Venezuela, a Rum Maker Offers Gangsters a Life Outside of Crime

Isayen Herrera Anatoly Kurmanaev

October 16, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Venezuela, Sabaneta

Rather than fleeing or fighting the twin threats to its business from criminal gangs and an aggressively anti-business government, the managers of Venezuelan rum-maker Ron Santa Teresa chose to make peace with both through social programs that have calmed what once was one of the violent country's most troubled towns. The company's Proyecto Alcatraz creates economic opportunity for gang members, providing them with job training and psychological counseling. It also courted favor with the socialist government with a housing initiative for the poor. Both programs have proved a boon for business.

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The Radical Shift in Drug Treatment Happening Inside California Prisons

Juan Moreno Haines

October 15, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

To combat opioid overdose deaths among incarcerated people, the California prison system in January 2020 launched a treatment program that combines medication-assisted treatment with professional and peer counseling. The program uses the three most effective medications to reduce opioid dependency. The one-year program features intense counseling, individual and group, based on a workbook that takes gender and trauma-related causes for drug abuse into account. Preliminary data show a decrease in deaths at San Quentin prison. More than 15,000 people have enrolled in the program.

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From Felon to Fighter: The Redemption of Jose Santana

Tyler Hayden

October 14, 2021 |

Santa Barbara Independent |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Santa Barbara, California

When California adopted a new law in 2020 allowing formerly incarcerated firefighters to petition to have their criminal records expunged and parole waived, the law excluded people with the most serious, violent offenses. But it left others with violent offenses in a gray area, subject to objections that could deny them a chance to become professional firefighters, using the skills they learned at one of the state's 43 prison fire camps. This story profiles the first man from Santa Barbara County to win this right, and the obstacles he faced in the process.

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Dallas PD Expands Controversial, Though Successful, Mental Health Response Program

Hayley Zhao

October 06, 2021 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

Dallas' Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team dispatches clinicians and social workers with police to 911 calls for mental health crises. Within two days, the team follows up to make sure people received the services they need. In its first three years, the area of the city using the program saw 60% fewer arrests and 20% fewer emergency-room visits among people in mental health crises. Critics argue that the presence of police can needlessly escalate such crises, but the city is sticking with the co-responder model and spending millions to expand the program.

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Tucson police chief says mental health workers in 911 center would ensure callers get the right response

Caitlin Schmidt

October 05, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mesa, Arizona

In 2019, Mesa police began diverting calls about suicide threats to a crisis line, where trained mental health professionals could provide counseling or dispatch a mobile crisis unit. Then they placed mental health professionals side by side with police dispatchers to triage 911 calls on the spot. Police now handle many fewer suicide-related crises, saving the city money and giving people more appropriate care. In Tucson, a mobile crisis team operates more independently from police. After two social workers were abducted at gunpoint by a man in crisis, the police chief argued to adopt the Mesa model.

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Is Denver's Psilocybin Decriminalization Having An Impact?

Alexander Lekhtman

October 04, 2021 |

Filter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Since Denver voters approved the decriminalization of the natural psychedelic drug psilocybin, the small number of arrests grew even smaller and one supporter of the policy sees growing interest in the therapeutic use of the drug. Even though supporters admit the policy has not made a big impact, it has influenced other cities and states to move in the same direction. Denver's policy was at the vanguard of what appears to be a pro-psychedlic movement in both legal and health policy.

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Progress amid the opioid epidemic: New Fall River fire station program seeing results

Meg McIntyre

October 02, 2021 |

The Herald News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Fall River, Massachusetts

Safe Stations, which operate out of local fire stations, provide a place for people struggling with opioid addiction to walk in and request help. They can be assessed for immediate health concerns, connected to a trained recovery coach and other mental health resources, and get help finding a bed in a detox facility or an inpatient treatment program.

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‘I Don't Want to Hit My Children. I Don't Want to Hit Anybody.'

Rachel Louise Snyder

October 01, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: England

The Respect Phoneline started in the UK in 2004 to give anonymous callers, usually men, a way to seek help for their violent impulses. Rather than putting the burden for resolving domestic violence on survivors and on the punitive tools of the criminal justice system, the hotline approach recognizes that people prone to abusing others are frustrated and unhappy and want to change but need help to figure out how. While the aftermath of anonymous phone counseling can't be tracked, the author observed the process helping many men change their thinking. Similar hotlines have started in multiple places.

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