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Undocumented crime victims who assist police are often denied help in getting visa

Yilun Cheng

August 23, 2021 |

The Columbus Dispatch |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Whitehall, Ohio

Congress created the U visa program in 2000 to encourage undocumented immigrants to report crimes to the police and cooperate with investigations and prosecutions. The visa legalizes an immigrant's status, if certified by a law enforcement agency and approved by the federal government. Some police departments, like Whitehall, Ohio's, routinely reject requests for certification because they want to avoid entanglements in immigration matters, or simply because they are anti-immigrant. No national rules require agencies to comply with the system, though some states do.

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A Houston man spent hours calling 911 before responders found his family members dead

Perla Trevizo Suzy Khimm Mike Hixenbaugh Lexi Churchill

August 19, 2021 |

NBC News |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

First responders usually have wide discretion over whether to force their way into a private home to respond to an emergency. One family's tragic carbon monoxide poisoning during Texas' severe winter weather in 2021 illustrates how the lack of a clear policy for firefighters, combined with miscommunication from 911 operators, led to a lengthy delay in providing medical help. Two family members died and two others suffered serious injuries when exhaust from their car filled their house and they could not respond to knocks at their door. Help was delayed for several hours.

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Solutions and Struggle: Native American tribes receive federal COVID-19 relief |

Mackenzie Wilkes Nancy Marie Spears Beth Wallis

August 15, 2021 |

News21 |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Blackfeet Nation, United States, Montana

During the pandemic, indigenous communities received massive federal funding through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and the Relief and Economic Security Act for a number of needs, like infrastructure and tribal housing improvements. Many indigenous entities received smaller funds too. But COVID exacerbated several long-pending and neglected issues, local officials and tribal members say, and the funding does not sufficiently address them in the longterm.

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Hunger on Campus: Western's systems fail to meet student need

Cameron Sires Mallory Kruml Kenneth Duncan

August 15, 2021 |

The Front |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Bellingham, Washington

A third of surveyed college students experience food insecurity, the rate is even higher at Western Washington University. To address the issue that university has unfolded a number of responses; food pantries, meal donations, community gardens, and state assitance, among others.

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Alaska failed to obtain DNA samples from 21,000 people accused of crimes, contrary to state law

Kyle Hopkins

August 11, 2021 |

Anchorage Daily News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alaska

Alaska put itself at the cutting edge of rape investigations in 2007 by passing a law requiring the collection of DNA samples from people arrested for a variety of crimes. The system is meant to aid in solving rapes, homicides and other crimes, and prevent serial offenses. But the state now admits that 1 in 4 qualifying cases never have a DNA sample collected, often because police either didn't know or didn't care about the requirement. Investigators are trying to collect samples from more than 20,000 old cases while improving procedures going forward.

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Since when is being a teenager a crime?

Eda Uzunlar

August 07, 2021 |

Reveal |

Illustrations |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Wyoming

Neighboring states of Wyoming and South Dakota take starkly different approaches toward youth who get in trouble. Side-by-side comic panels follow two real cases through each system. A South Dakota teen gets help that steers her off a destructive path. A Wyoming teen gets punished, and ends up in a downward spiral of more trouble and more punishment. Both states once had relatively high youth incarceration rates. Now only one of them, Wyoming, does: the second-worst in the U.S., and three times the national average.

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When Disaster Strikes

Taylor Perse

August 05, 2021 |

Eugene Weekly |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Disaster preparedness in the form of close inter-agency coordination and communication helped Cuyahoga County, Ohio, protect its unhoused population from COVID-19 to a greater extent than Lane County, Oregon. Although Cuyahoga (Cleveland) is larger, with more resources, its effective responses still offer a model to Lane County (Eugene), where a scattered approach and homeless-camp sweeps proved counterproductive. In Cleveland, hotels were quickly enlisted to house people, reducing crowding in shelters by half and street homelessness by 30%. Its largest men's shelter ended up with a low infection rate.

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Marsy's Law was supposed to help victims. In Jacksonville, it shields police officers.

Uriel J. García

August 03, 2021 |

The Tributary (Jacksonville Journalism Collective) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jacksonville, Florida

A Florida constitutional amendment enacted in 2018 called Marsy's Law protects crime victims' rights, including the right to privacy when public-records laws would otherwise reveal victims' identity. But the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has interpreted a court decision to justify erasing from public records the names of police officers who shot or killed people, on the grounds that the police should legally be considered crime victims. Marsy's Law has been enacted in 14 states. Critics say it was not meant to undermine police accountability, but they have been unable to enact corrective legislation.

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9 Potential Solutions to Keep Chicagoans Safer From Fires

Cecilia Reyes Madison Hopkins

August 02, 2021 |

Better Government Association |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Many cities have experienced tragic deaths in rental apartments, but Chicago's poor record in this realm is compounded by officials' refusal to concede systemic problems. So, to follow up on an earlier report about those problems, reporters compiled a list of nine effective policies and which other cities use them. In each of the areas, Chicago has failed to adopt policies that in other places have made fire safety a priority, starting with routine inspections, effective enforcement of regulations, and licensing and tracking of landlords to more easily spot scofflaws.

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Mental illness driving homeless 'disaster'

Mary Clarkin

August 02, 2021 |

The Active Age |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Topeka, Kansas

Community mental health centers have been strained in Kansas ever since the state changed its approach to mental health treatment by reducing hospital beds in the 1990s. The intended shift to a community mental health approach didn’t go as planned, and as a result, available inpatient behavioral health beds have drastically decreased, leaving more people in hospitals and often on the streets.

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