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NYC Court Summons Redesigned With Human Behavior in Mind

Ben Levine

December 22, 2020 |

Government Technology |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City courts significantly reduced no-shows for court dates by redesigning court summons forms and sending text reminders to people of their upcoming court dates. An estimated 30,000 fewer arrest warrants were issued, thanks to the behavioral "nudges" that researchers designed with one realization in mind: People often miss court dates accidentally, not intentionally. The changes were made to summons systems, used for low-level offenses, but they could also be used in more serious criminal cases.

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Nashville's ‘Navigator' Tries to Keep Students in Remote Learning From Getting Lost in the System

Linda Jacobson

December 20, 2020 |

The 74 |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Nashville, Tennessee

In order to keep track of students and prevent them from dropping out, the Nashville district created “Navigators.” A corps of 5,600 school employees- teachers, lunchroom workers, and bookkeepers, who track students through weekly phone and video calls. The navigators have “completed roughly 220,000 calls to parents and students since school started in August,” each with a caseload of 6 to 12 students. Their conversations have led from everything to helping students complete assignments, to buying groceries, to finding out students are homeless.

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These Buses Bring School to Students

Kathleen Gray

December 17, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Jackson, Michigan

In Jackson, Michigan, 1 in 5 children have access to wifi through school buses. Out of the roughly 5,000 children, 70 percent qualify for free and reduced lunch. The buses guarantee they have reliable access to the internet during a pandemic. The buses park outside apartment complexes, a homeless shelter, and the rec center from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s just one way the school district is adapting to student needs during a health pandemic.

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Unique Housing Project Eases the Path to Re-Entry for Single Parents

Jared Brey

December 15, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, King County, Washington

Single parents readjusting to life after incarceration face numerous hurdles to re-entering society. A housing program in Seattle now provides access to transitional housing alongside services that help parents reconnect with their children, access to mental health care, and work toward permanent housing. Passage Point’s wraparound services are an effective and unique resource for a population that is commonly blocked from accessing public housing.

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Homicides dropped after Philly gangs signed a 1974 peace pact. What can we learn from the org that brokered the truce?

Layla A. Jones

December 14, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The House of Umoja in West Philadelphia, created in the late 1960s in response to high rates of gang violence, succeeded in helping thousands of young men through a residential treatment program, mediating disputes peacefully, and brokering a gang truce credited with lowering Philadelphia violence in the 1970s. The program was based on Afrocentric customs and family structure (its name means unity in Swahili). The grandson of the founders is now trying to revive the home as part of the city's multiple anti-violence initiatives.

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‘Backpacks full of boulders': How one district is addressing the trauma undocumented children bring to school

Kavitha Cardoza

December 14, 2020 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Adelphi, Maryland

Prince George's County in Maryland ranks fourth in the country for the number of unaccompanied students with sponsors. Often, these students have experienced a lot of trauma by the time they arrive at school. School officials are using their budget to spend it on resources to help educators and undocumented students succeed academically by hiring trauma specialists, bilingual liaisons, and teacher aides. “The most important reason is it is morally, really spiritually, inappropriate to mistreat the children who come from these families and not give them equal opportunity.”

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How Portland Protesters Keep Each Other Safe

Isabella Garcia

December 09, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

Behind the nightly protests against racism and police brutality on Portland's streets for more than five months stands a network of street medics and mutual aid groups dedicated to equipping and protecting protesters, and treating their injuries after clashes with police. Portland's already-vibrant street medic community responded to the policing protests with emergency medical care. Their work, plus that of other mutual aid groups, has taken on an added dimension during the pandemic, with masks and hand sanitizer added to the list of supplies.

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Newly Formed KC Bail-Out Group Successful After Its First Year in Action

Jazzlyn Johnson

December 08, 2020 |

The Community Voice |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

In its first year, Operation Liberation helped more than 30 people post bail to be released from the Jackson County Detention Center. The operation focuses on bailing Black people out of jail when their lack of money keeps them jailed on low-level charges. Kansas City's population is about one-quarter Black, but its jail skews 58% Black. Operation Liberation provides social supports to people once they are released from pretrial detention, helping with everything from housing to transportation. Its first year's work was funded by more than $75,000 in donations.

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NYPD Cops Cash In on Sex Trade Arrests With Little Evidence, While Black and Brown New Yorkers Pay the Price

Joshua Kaplan Joaquin Sapien

December 07, 2020 |

ProPublica |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York Police Department sex-crimes enforcement officially shifted away from arresting people selling sex to those buying it and those in the large-scale trafficking business. At the same time, the Human Trafficking Intervention Court was created to divert sex workers' criminal cases away from conviction and toward social services. The reality, however, is that police officers' overtime income gives them incentives to make high volumes of arrests of sex workers and buyers in flimsy, low-level cases that get plea-bargained down, but which skew heavily against people of color.

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Summit Safe Syringe Exchange ‘plants just a little bit of hope' through harm reduction

H.L. Comeriato

December 07, 2020 |

The Devil Strip |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Akron, Ohio

The Summit Safe Syringe Exchange provides free and clean needles and supplies to people who use drugs, while also providing access to testing and counseling and connecting people to housing and health care resources. Project DAWN saturated the community with naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, and trains community members to recognize and treat overdoses quickly. Both programs have helped the Summit County Public Health integrate harm reduction strategies into the ways that officials address drug use and addiction.

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