Child welfare agencies use a shadow system to remove kids from their parents’ care. Nobody knows how many children are placed this way or what happens to them in new homes.
Housing and Homeslessness
Amid the pandemic, changes to the county’s needle exchange programs are on hold.
"The experience of working with our subjects for more than a year changed my own ideas about homelessness and how to report on it."
A woman is seeking shelter from her spouse. A man is disabled. Another has been clean from addiction for 16 years. A mom who lost her job is there with her two kids.
City leaders repeatedly denied that homeless sweeps were happening. A reporter shares how she proved them wrong.
During shelter-in-place, some hotel rooms were opened to homeless people — yet weren't being filled.
This story is the first in a series exploring the deaths of homeless people in Santa Clara County — who the victims were, how they died and what might be done to save the lives of people few may remember.
Without rent relief for California tenants, housing advocates fear the pandemic will worsen the homelessness crisis.
A look at how homelessness reporters are approaching the beat during the pandemic.
This story was produced as part of a larger project led by Nicole Hayden, a participant in the USC Center for Health Journalism's 2020 California Fellowship, covering homelessness in the Coachella Valley.
Her other stories include:
Palm Springs shelter avoided COVID-19. Homeless say they need more t