Thousands of children in the throes of mental health crises are turned over to foster care each year by parents who can’t access – or afford – the treatment they need, according to a first-ever database of such “relinquishments” created by The Imprint, with support from the Fund. More than 20 years ago, a report for Congress identified this problem, ...
Grantee obtains depositions showing inner working of Disney’s legal battle with the State of Florida
With support from the Fund, Gabrielle Russon obtained 700 pages of depositions from a civil lawsuit stemming from the Walt Disney Company’s battle with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in recent years. The dispute arose after Disney leaders spoke out against a state law in Florida restricting discussion of LGBT issues in schools. Depositions of three key Disney executives show that ...
Hemp products are legal in Wisconsin, but only if they have very low levels of THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high. With support from the Fund, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commissioned independent testing on 30 gummies, vapes and edibles bought at hemp stores – and found that most of them contained illegal levels of THC. Some contained ...
The State of New York plans to ask a judge to dismiss 500 prison sexual abuse cases because of typos and other technicalities in the victims’ legal filings, according to new reporting in New York Focus and Hell Gate. With support from the Fund, Chris Gelardi and Jessy Edwards have spent months compiling and analyzing data from 1,600 lawsuits filed ...
Two years after Borderless uncovered inhumane conditions and the death of a five-year-old boy at a city-run shelter in Chicago, the local nonprofit outlet documented long waits for shelter placement and persistent issues with shelter conditions, in a new investigation supported by the Fund. Reporters Aydali Campa and Katrina Pham obtained public records and interviewed shelter residents, including one who ...
Guards in a Mississippi jail terrorized people in their care for years, according to a new investigation published by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Reveal. With support from the Fund, Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield spent nearly a year reviewing 69 alleged incidents of violence against inmates at the jail that occurred from 2012 to 2024. They interviewed ...
Luke Mullins documented alarming conditions inside Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW), which is a key part Washington, D.C.’s mental health safety net. For an investigation in the Washingtonian with support from the Fund, Mullins drew from lawsuits, regulatory documents obtained through FIOA, and interviews with former patients and staff members. He found a violently charged environment that was linked to ...
For stories published by ProPublica, with support from the Fund, Eli Cahan found that dozens of psychiatric hospitals have turned away patients in crisis, in violation of federal law, but have rarely faced consequences from federal oversight authorities. Cahan identified more than 90 psychiatric hospitals across the country that have turned away patients in crisis over the 15 years – ...
In “The Adoption Trap,” freelance journalist Sandy West took a deep look at private foster and adoption agencies operating in Texas with little regulation or oversight from state child welfare authorities. With support from the Fund, West focused on two women locked in court battles to maintain their parental rights in lawsuits filed by people to whom neither they nor ...
Nationwide, prosecutors are required to disclose information to defendants that might erode the credibility of law-enforcement officials who testify in criminal trials. With support from the Fund, an ongoing investigation by Wisconsin Watch, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and TMJ4 News is investigating Milwaukee County’s list of 200 current or former officers who have acted in ways that erode their credibility. ...