Among the key takeaways: "Establish your credibility early and often with all of your potential sources."
Mental Health
This project is funded by a USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism grant.
This article was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2018 California Fellowship.
“I have bad news for you,” my editor said during a phone call in late August 2017. “We’re closing in two weeks.”
One consistent memory I have from reporting on California’s mental health system for low-income children is repeatedly asking myself, “Why is this so hard?”
“The best policy we can pursue is try to reduce access to firearms among people who are suicidal," one researcher says.
While Caribbean "barrel children" typically receive money and goods, they often lack the emotional support they need. Reporter Melissa Noel shares lessons from the field.
Emotional neglect, physical abuse, divorce, a household riven by addiction — science shows that traumas like these in childhood cause poorer health later in life, both mentally and physically.
This story was produced as part of a project for the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, a program of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
“Access varies quite dramatically depending on where you are,” said Kim Lewis of the National Health Law Program. “There isn’t a lot being done to ensure accountability in each county.”