The Central Valley's Kern County reported a 30 percent rise in overdose deaths from 2016 to 2017, bucking the statewide decline in fatal overdoses.
Healthcare Systems & Policy
While California has readily embraced the Affordable Care Act, thousands of uninsured or underinsured still turn out for a mega free clinic in Los Angeles every year. Here are a few of their stories.
As revenue declines from one 'sin tax,' California considers tapping another for children's programs
Taxes on recreational marijuana "won't be a panacea," one First 5 official said, but advocates still hope they'll be directed toward early intervention and education.
How many deaths and needless suffering could be prevented if county jails had better health care systems?
Molly is one of the recipients of the 2018 Impact Fund, a program of USC Annenberg's Center for Health Journalism.
Joe Rubin is a Sacramento-based investigative reporter and a fellow with USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism. His reporting on workplace exposures to lead in California has appeared in Capital & Main.
Reporter Vicki Gonzalez spent the past year on this series as a recipient of the 2018 California Fellowship with USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
"I am often asked why public health should care about the role of the court and who sits on it. The answer is simple: Court rulings can support or overturn policies that dramatically affect the public’s health."
A reporter discovers firsthand the darker side of living in Northern California's seemingly idyllic Mendocino County.
The story was produced as a project for USC Annenberg's 2018 National Fellowship.