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There's a detective at the door; she wants to say 'sorry'

Caitlin Schmidt

May 22, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Using a federal grant to reopen unsolved sexual assault cases, Tucson police and prosecutors have provided hundreds of victims with something they were denied when they first reported being attacked: a clear sense that authorities take their cases seriously. Dozens of possible serial rapists were identified when DNA testing was finally performed, and several suspects were prosecuted. When notifying victims their long-ago cases were getting a second look, detectives and victim advocates start with an apology for neglecting or mishandling the cases in the past.

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Outreach officers treat homelessness as a symptom, not a crime

Stephanie Casanova

May 01, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team operates on the premise that even though many want to see police excluded from any role in dealing with homelessness, residents still call 911 and demand a police response. So the team, working with the city's homeless services counselors, can usually turn such contacts into an offer of help. Its officers are trained more and have more time than patrol officers to talk to people and determine their needs. Tucson's unhoused population surged in 2020, and police helped hundreds get housed or get other services without resorting to arrests and jail.

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Police visit patients, offer rides to mental health treatment

Stephanie Casanova

April 30, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

When people refuse mental health care while under court orders to get treatment, Tucson police send a mental health support team to take the people to crisis observation clinics or hospitals. The teams have the training and extra time that regular patrol officers often lack, so that such calls can result in a peaceful transport to get the person help, rather than to jail or ending in violence. Having the police involved at all poses policy questions that agencies wrestle with. But thousands of people per year are getting transported to places providing care instead of punishment.

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Officers try to break stigma, offer help to drug users

Stephanie Casanova

April 29, 2021 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Police Department's Substance Use Resource Team reaches out on the streets to people with substance-use disorder, offering them treatment instead of arrest and jail. The team is an extension of the department's mental health support team and was started in response to the opioid epidemic. Officers talk to people they find on the streets, or follow up on 911 calls for overdoses. Not everyone accepts the offered help, and some end up arrested on warrants. But, at a time of rising overdose deaths, the officers and the peer support specialists who accompany them often can get people into treatment.

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Pima County program getting people out of jail quicker, speeding up chances for a new life

Caitlin Schmidt

December 29, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

An array of services in Pima County, Arizona, greets hundreds of people getting released early from jail or helps keep them out of jail in the first place. By providing drug treatment, housing, job assistance, and other help that people need instead of incarceration, the county's Criminal Justice Reform Unit and Jail Population Review Committee saved the county $2 million in jail costs over just part of 2020. Drug use also declined and officials hope to see longer-range benefits in lower recidivism.

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Even during pandemic, Tucson nonprofit advocates educational opportunities for undocumented students

Clara Migoya

October 14, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

ScholarshipsA-Z in Tucson is helping DREAMers (undocumented students with DACA) with economic assistance during the pandemic. The organization has provided up to $45,000 to around 100 families and continues to help students find and apply for scholarships through its new virtual platform.

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University of Arizona researchers unveil new model for desert farming in warming world

Henry Brean

September 20, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

In an experimental garden in Arizona, scientists are seeing how to produce sustainable and local food in a desert environment. They’re growing plants under a photovoltaic “canopy” of solar panels that provide necessary shade for the crops and, at the same time, generate cheap, renewable energy for irrigation systems and farm equipment. So far, they’ve been able to grow basil, Anasazi red beans, and a special bell pepper. While not all crops will work in this system and scaling the garden has its challenges, learning how to grow food in the desert is necessary to adapt to a future with climate change.

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Pascua Yaqui, Tohono O'odham respond to community needs during coronavirus pandemic

Stephanie Casanova

May 11, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Arizona

Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham tribal leaders took quick action to support members during the Covid-19 pandemic. They instituted a curfew, required face masks, and ensured that tribal members had sufficient food and supplies. The Pascua Yaqui’s information technology team created an app for residents to easily provide household information and request food, household goods and cleaning supplies. Federal rescue money allocated to the tribes has not arrived, so the tribes created their own systems of caring for their tribal members by securing essential goods and distributing them to those in need.

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Tucson-area reproductive-health program thrives by allowing teens to help teens

Caitlin Schmidt

July 14, 2019 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

Peer-to-peer reproductive health programs allow the concerns of youth to be heard and addressed. In Tucson, Arizona, the El Rio Health Center’s Reproductive Health Access Project allowed young people to have a say in the design of the program and types of services offered, including sexual health screenings and education. With the help a grant through Advocates for Youth, the program also operates AZ Shine, a teen-focused appointment service.

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Growing Pima County: Utah turned to private investors to fund public preschool

Luis Carrasco

April 21, 2019 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Salt Lake City, Utah

Understanding that it would be hard to gain support for increased taxes to fund early childhood education in a conservative county, Pima County in Utah turned to a Pay for Success model. In this public-private arrangement, private investors are paid only if a social program achieves its goals.

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