Community & Public Health

Members of a state committee that oversees Florida's Department of Juvenile Justice dismissed assertions that the abuse of children in state custody is the work of a few “bad apples” — and vowed to start hunting for concrete solutions.

Out of 160 Fresno Unified high school students who took a survey conducted by The Fresno Bee, more than half said they had only “learned a little” about sex in school. Sixteen percent said they had learned nothing at all.

Are California regulators in denial about the dangers of lead? The state's response to previous lead-poisoning crises raise plenty of doubts.

Orange County has the second highest number of opioid-related deaths in the state after Los Angeles, and the epidemic is hitting hardest among people in their golden years.

While many students seem unaffected by the violence, medical experts say the mere knowledge of killings can cause them to experience their own trauma and lose their sense of safety.

Youth homelessness is a growing problem in California cities. Numbers from Santa Clara and Alameda counties show that homeless youth have roughly doubled from just two years ago.

Florida's Dept. of Juvenile Justice Secretary came out swinging against the Miami Herald Monday, saying the Fight Club investigation that uncovered the use of excessive force and other misconduct by agency staff depicted “isolated events."

When juvenile detention worker Uriah T. Harris heard the boys in his charge using profane language, he calmly offered a choice: they could be struck with a broom handle or receive demerits that could lengthen their stay. Many boys were hit with the broom.

The headlines generated by Angel Secundino's killing faded quickly. But his death links four generations still struggling with the regrets, emotional wreckage and fear that come when loved ones become immersed in the gang lifestyle.

Toxic City is supported by grants from the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism and the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism....