Reporter
Cynthia Dizikes is an investigative reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining the Chronicle in 2016, Dizikes worked in Chicago where she focused on government agencies and the courts. In addition to investigations, Dizikes has a background in general assignment and political reporting. She previously covered the Minnesota congressional delegation in Washington D.C.
A data-driven series ushers in quick changes to California's reliance on an out-of-state youth residential treatment program.
One of the nation’s largest youth residential treatment programs is shutting down after California officials, prompted by a Chronicle and Imprint investigation into rampant abuse allegations, decided to stop sending vulnerable children there.
A Wyoming treatment center where California had long sent troubled youth will shut down in March, following a Chronicle and Imprint investigation into violent abuse at its campus and others operated by Sequel Youth & Family Services.
California will spend more than $8 million to find safer homes for children returning from troubled out-of-state residential programs, in response to a recent investigation into rampant reports of abuse at the facilities.
County officials across California are scrambling to find new homes for more than 100 children with mental health and behavioral issues, following the state’s landmark decision to stop shipping these young people to faraway facilities.
California sent more than 1,000 vulnerable children to out-of-state facilities run by a for-profit company. Reports of rampant abuse followed. Now, confronted with a Chronicle and Imprint investigation, the state is bringing every child home.
Currently, there is no centralized place for the public to easily access information on air pollution from California oil refineries, power plants and manufacturers.
