For families involved in Philly's child welfare system, this program is building a safety net

An affordable housing development in Mount Laurel, N.J., holds promise for integration by placing the development in an upscale suburban area. Since 140 affordable units were built in 2000, there has been no effect on crime rates, property values, or taxes, in reference to nearby suburbs.

Girls Court brings an all-hands-on-deck approach to the lives of vulnerable girls, linking them to social service agencies, providing informal Saturday sessions on everything from body image to legal jargon, and offering a team of adults in whom they can develop trust.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a domestic violence court offers funnels perpetrators into programs that offer counseling and other services to address the root causes of their behavior. Its two tracks focus on first-time offenders to short-circuit any escalation into chronic abuse, as well as those with multiple domestic violence charges. Judges work closely with participants to encourage them and call them out when they aren't meeting their obligations, and recidivism rates among those who complete the programs are far lower than those who do not.

While Seattle’s City Council has taken steps to protect renters from rising costs and exploitative landlords, many tenants do not understand their rights. In order to address this disconnect, advocacy groups have organized “tenant rights boot camps” to educate renters about their rights and avenues of recourse under the law.

Several large philanthropic organizations, like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Ford Foundation, are pooling resources to address San Francisco's severe housing crisis. The funds will go to local non-profits who are buying up property to stabilize rent and to localities to establish rent-control and tenant protection policies. Known as Partnership for the Bay’s Future, the venture hopes to eventually ensure housing for 175,000 families over five years.

California coastal towns address homelessness by supporting individuals who live on their boats - and those who want to move back to land. While many counties destroy or condemn boats that have been anchored long-term, areas like Half Moon Bay and Marin county work with individuals who want to find stable housing.

Old and neglected housing contributes to climate change because it runs on fossil fuels. In New York, outdated heating systems waste two-thirds of energy. The New York City Housing Authority is not only trying to create better, safer, more livable affordable housing, but also cleaner and more sustainable housing. While the city is just beginning to explore how to do that, other cities, like Paris, have already begun the work of updating old buildings that are used for affordable housing and can offer a model for American cities.

Court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) are trained volunteers appointed by a judge to represent a child’s best interests throughout the foster care system and adoption court processes. CASAs spend time with the children to get to know them and their situations, including their medical, psychological and social needs, to advocate on their behalf. The CASA program began in the 1970s; today, there are about 1,000 CASA programs nationwide.

Temporary Alternative Placement Agreements (TAPA) allow parents struggling with addiction to enter a drug-treatment program and connect them with parenting resources and support to help them maintain custody of their children. Under a TAPA parents have a say in who their children stay with while they're seeking treatment, rather than losing custody altogether. Participants say TAPAs are far less traumatic and help hold them accountable as they’re required to sign an agreement to uphold at the start of the program.

Thorn’s Spotlight tool uses text and facial recognition technology to scrub the web, helping investigators find underage sex-trafficking victims. Spotlight has been used by law enforcement on nearly 40,000 cases in North America, helping investigators find more than 9,000 children and 10,000 traffickers.