The National Center on Disability and Journalism news feed is a blog that showcases examples of superlative disability journalism, including investigative reports, in-depth storytelling and breaking news across various media formats.
Have you read an excellent report or seen a recent broadcast featuring people with disabilities? We want to hear about it! Email your story suggestions to the NCDJ at ncdj.asu@gmail.com. Please include a link to the story; you may also include a short synopsis if you wish.
A news anchor for an ABC affiliate station in Houston describes her experience in living with multiple sclerosis for the past 20 years and how she has maintained a positive attitude throughout. Read more.
The U.S. Department of Labor said this week that they are putting up $15 million to be used by state workforce agencies to create “flexible and innovative strategies” to grow participation of people with disabilities in federally-funded job training programs. Read more.
According to a recent report from the Keystone Research Center, Pennsylvania’s nursing homes are misusing public funds. Although nursing homes are quite profitable, the report shows that the industry readily accepts government subsidies for healthcare provided to residents but pays low wages to employees. Advocates are now calling to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Read more.
In this investigative series into one of California’s largest group homes for children with mental disabilities and emotional disorders, ProPublica journalists expose failures at nearly every level to protect its troubled residents. The insitution at the center of the story, FamiliesFirst in Davis, was raided by police in June 2013 after a year of responding to hundreds of calls about drug use, rape, violence and negligence. According to reporter Joaquin Sapien’s explanation of how the story was covered, the investigators obtained data through public records requests and drew from interviews with more than three dozen subjects, including social workers and children who worked and lived in the home.
Read more, and watch the accompanying documentary “Sule’s Story,” at ProPublica.
AT&T’s latest app challenge, done in partnership with NYU’s Assistive Technology and Ability Lab, offers $100,000 to developers who create new apps or devices specifically aimed at aiding those with disabilities. Submissions will be due at the beginning of July, and AT&T will announce the winner on July 26, the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Read more.
Deaf culture is unique in that it is not usually inherited– it is shared and passed down. Though implants have been lauded for their technological achievements, by helping deaf children hear, parents are essentially cutting them off from experiencing this vibrant culture. Read more on Medium.
This story from the Center for Investigative Reporting follows up on a 2012 investigation into the failures on the part of police to protect the developmentally disabled at California care institutions. The original series, Broken Shield, won the inaugural Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, the annual award of the National Center on Disability and Journalism.
Newly released records from the California Department of Public Health show 13 people have directly died from abuse, neglect and lack of supervision since 2002 at state-run institutions for the developmentally disabled. The Center for Investigative Reporting sued the public health department in 2012 after officials there refused to release the records over patient privacy concerns. This February, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of CIR and compelled the department to release the documents.
These documents paint the most vivid picture yet of the poor treatment sometimes experienced inside California’s five taxpayer-funded development centers, which house more than 1,100 patients. In total, the centers have been fined for their actions in the deaths of 22 people since 2002.
Read more at Reveal, CIR’s new digital platform for its investigations.
In a 5-4 decision earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a group of Idaho agencies serving people with developmental disabilities, saying that developmental disability service providers cannot sue to force state Medicaid programs to raise their reimbursement rates. Read more.
One thing Apple likely didn’t expect when it released its iPhone technology is how it positively impacts people with autism. Plusnet, a British internet service provider, describes how Siri, the ultimate virtual personal assistant, presents information from queries in such a digestible way that can help people with autism process that material more easily. Read more.
