Federal law guarantees public school students experiencing homelessness a host of rights, to bring them educational stability. But a recent state audit found poor compliance and oversight across California.
The Castlemont neighborhood in East Oakland is known as a Best Babies Zone. The idea of this initiative is that improving life for everyone in the community will ultimately save babies.
“Children get the best care possible, no doubt,” says the head of the Sickle Disease Foundation of California. “It’s when that child becomes an adult — that’s when they fall into a black hole.”
“When you’re a foster girl, you feel unwanted,” a 21-year-old survivor said. “You’ve been through so much neglect and abuse. And then when you have a man tell you, ‘I love you, I’’ll take care of you, I’ll protect you,’ you want to believe him.”
In the years after coming out to his family as a teen, Lotus Dao felt alienated from them. Lacking support, he began abusing cocaine and alcohol, and struggled with an eating disorder. His story is not uncommon in a community that does not openly discuss sex and gender, Thy Vo reports.
The fact that gentrification can make residents of displaced communities less healthy is not an inevitable effect of neutral market forces, but a fundamental injustice. A new report provides specific policy recommendations that can either prevent displacement or halt its progress.
Early in her career, Dr. Barbara Staggers was strongly censured for hugging a patient. Now, it’s part of her daily routine, a way to show kids who might not otherwise have any positive physical affection in their lives that someone cares about them.
By her junior year, Unyque Jackson found herself at McNair High School in Stockton, California. After being moved in and out of at least 10 schools since elementary school, she still had one more transfer. Unyque was pregnant and questioned whether she would be able to graduate.
Photographer and multimedia journalist Alison Yin, a 2012 National Health Journalism Fellow, shares how she chronicled the “invisible” struggles of children with asthma through photos and audio.
Asthma is the most common cause of hospital stays for children. It can strike anyone, but has a disproportionate impact on low-income and African-American children. Katy Murphy, a 2012 National Health Journalism Fellow, shares lessons learned from her Fellowship project for the Oakland Tribune
