Philadelphia was plagued by two epidemics in 2017: Opioid addiction and homelessness. The city addressed them as intertwined crises.
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
Many homeless college students are hiding in plain sight
Nearly four in 10 college students reported not having adequate housing.
Homeless women face extra health, safety worries
Many homeless women fear for their safety even when they are able to secure shelter.
Tensions rise when businesses, homeless people share the same space
In the 1990s Washington created Business Improvement Districts to “promote economic growth and employment.”
What is an encampment? Don’t ask Massachusetts
The lack of a clear encampment definition, when and how a cleanout will be done and what services are available to displaced occupants creates legal risk for authorities and further traumatizes displaced homeless individuals.
Nowhere to Go
This yearlong project, a collaboration among seven journalism schools, did deep dives into the causes and potential solutions to homelessness. The investigation told the stories of people living on the streets and people facing eviction from apartments, trailer parks and public housing during the pandemic. It documented the consequences when cities criminalize homelessness and examined whether one alternative — community courts — is effective. The Howard Center developed a suite of web scrapers to gather tens of thousands of court records from online court record management systems, and partnered with Stanford University’s Big Local News project to extend the technology for use by a wider group of journalists. In addition to Stanford, the collaboration included the University of Oregon, Boston University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Florida and Arizona State University.
A First Amendment right to feed?
A constitutional clash between a religious belief in feeding the hungry and a city food-sharing ban.
In Ocala, strict policing pushes the homeless out of sight
A federal lawsuit alleges draconian measures in Ocala, Florida, to address homelessness are not only discriminatory but unconstitutional.
Arkansas jail releases inmates, dozens of them homeless, amid COVID-19
The Washington County Detention Center — one of the largest jails in Arkansas — released a third of its inmates, including some homeless detainees, over a 10-day span to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak behind bars.
Homeless bills of rights are a new iteration of anti-discrimination laws
Many states have passed, or are considering, laws protecting homeless people from discrimination.