Health Equity & Social Justice

A FiveThirtyEight reporter on how she tackled an ambitious series on a huge, overlooked health crisis.

“Have a plan, but expect to ditch it,” a news mentor drilled into my head 25 years ago. “If you’re well prepared but open to wherever the story leads you, the journalism gods will reward you.”

 On Jan. 1, Californians in the state's Medicaid dental program will once again have full dental coverage. But the program's low rates mean many dentists won't see them.

The stopgap bill approved by Congress this week will extend funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program for a few more months. That's far from what the program's supporters were hoping for.

The Warren Community Health Clinic building has sat empty since spring 2016. Word of a potential new facility opening up in Warren County has many around the community like Vicky Stokes hopeful.

A reporter set out to do a set of stories on the difficulties Merced County residents already faced in accessing care. Then, eight health clinics serving Medicaid patients in the county closed.

A psychiatrist who has studied migrant and refugee children around the world points to one powerful protective factor against tremendous adversity — social connections.

This report was produced as a project for the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, a program of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. 
Other stories in the series include:
What happens after a rural North Carolina health clinic closes?

On a Monday in early October, the top administrator at the the Manatee Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bradenton, Florida issued a terse order to subordinates: “Do not flush.”

This article was produced as a project for the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, a program of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism. It's the third in a series of stories exploring how the Trump administration's immigration policies are affecting the physical, mental and emotional