Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 1996 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Booking homeless Portlanders into jail is endless, expensive cycle that arrests don't curb, but housing does

Molly Harbarger Melissa Lewis

October 25, 2020 |

The Oregonian |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Temporary housing providing drug treatment and other services to people experiencing homelessness appears to cut the chances that people arrested in Portland on minor charges will cycle repeatedly through the criminal justice system. In 2019, 250 people living in transitional housing were booked into jail, versus nearly 3,700 people still living on the streets. The rearrest rate for people living on the street is 87%, but 30 points lower for people with housing. Portland officials have been slow to provide alternatives to arrests and jail since a report in 2017 that most arrestees in Portland are homeless.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Nigerians don't trust the government to respond to emergency calls. So they created apps instead.

Innocent Chizaram Ilo

October 24, 2020 |

Rest of World |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Fearful and distrustful of corrupt and abusive police forces, Nigerians by the thousands have downloaded locally developed mobile apps like Sety and Aabo to call friends for help during abductions or other emergencies. These first-responder apps feature panic buttons that alert contacts or people nearby during an emergency. The app makers do not share usage data, but users say they feel safer by having such apps available if they are harassed by the police or in need of protection from an attack.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Psychische Erkrankungen erkennen: Erste Hilfe für die Seele

Jana Hauschild

October 24, 2020 |

Der Spiegel |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Germany

Einen Erste-Hilfe-Kurs hat fast jeder schon einmal gemacht. Doch was ist zu tun, wenn jemand Suizidgedanken hat oder eine Panikattacke? Auch in Deutschland gibt es künftig Kurse, die das lehren. Die Erfahrungen aus anderen Ländern zeigen, wie wichtig und wirksam sie sind.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Two years in, Maryland leads most other states in use of ‘red flag' gun law

Ben Leonard

October 23, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Maryland

Two years after Maryland adopted a law allowing for court orders denying gun access to people at high risk of harming themselves or others, police and the public have invoked the law far more often than in most states with similar laws. It is difficult to prove that domestic-violence assaults or suicides have been prevented. But advocates and law enforcement officials say they have seen that effect. Research has documented that extreme-risk protection orders, as such laws are known, can prevent suicides. Credit for the law's use goes to police training and 24/7 court access for emergency hearings.

Read More
Go to Original Story
They lost their brothers to addiction. Now they're tackling deadly stigmas head on, with humor

Tim Greiving

October 22, 2020 |

Los Angeles Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Two women who lost their brothers to heroin overdoses launched the podcast "Last Day" to address death – by drugs and, in season two, by suicide – with a mix of humor, unsettling candor, and conventional-wisdom-busting storytelling. At first a modest startup, their production company now employs 17, topped the podcast charts with almost 4 million downloads, and has rolled out other programs on such topics as body image, bullying, the pandemic, policing, and loneliness. Many of the topics were proposed by listeners to "Last Day," who wanted their problems or questions to get the same treatment.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Could a Simple Intervention Fight a Suicide Crisis?

Sarah Weiser

October 21, 2020 |

PBS |

Broadcast TV Programs |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

In the 1960s, a psychologist and a team of researchers in San Francisco began sending “caring letters" as a means of suicide intervention, but the practice didn't continue outside of the research study, despite showing positive results. Today though, a clinical psychologist has begun to reintroduce the intervention, via text messages and emails, as a practice to specifically help U.S. service members and veterans.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Why Portugal decriminalised all drugs

Rebecca Kesby

October 19, 2020 |

BBC |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Portugal

When Portugal became the first country to decriminalize personal possession and use of small amounts of drugs, choosing to shift to treating drug abuse as a health rather than a criminal matter, the feared downside of turning the country into a drug-users' paradise did not materialize. Instead, HIV cases and crime dropped. Law enforcement resources could focus on major trafficking, while the health and social problems associated with the country's serious heroin problem could be addressed in a way that could begin to solve the problem. Up till then, arrests and prison had failed to have such effects.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Firefighters work through PTSD with peer support, counseling

Sierra Poore

October 19, 2020 |

Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Glendale, Arizona

A counseling program introduced at Glendale Fire Department has now spread to a handful of other departments across the state after reporting that a significant percentage of firefighters were using the counseling services and had used fewer sick hours. The program offers individual counseling, group support, and training on peer counseling.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Second Largest Police Force to Stop Criminalising Drug Users

Max Daly

October 16, 2020 |

Vice |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Four UK police forces have adopted drug-decriminalization policies over the past five years, diverting hundreds of cases toward treatment and harm-reduction counseling, and away from criminal convictions, fines, and incarceration. The policies, which apply even in cases involving heroin and cocaine, have been found to reduce drug offenses and conserve police resources for more serious crime. Based on those programs, West Midlands, the second-largest police force in England and Wales, is launching a one-year pilot project aimed at diverting 1,500 people's cases away from the criminal process.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Courage to Listen

Meg Daly

October 15, 2020 |

Jackson Hole Community Radio (KHOL) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Wyoming

Following a series of public controversies over sexual assault, Jackson's Community Safety Network convened a series of training seminars to foster a response that no amount of legislation or criminal prosecutions could offer: to cultivate culture change based on greater understanding and empathy about what survivors go through. The seminars capitalized on a surge in public interest, and misunderstandings, surrounding sexual assault allegations against a public official and other public officials' behavior. One survivor who was encouraged to go public praised the community effort.

Read More
Go to Original Story