Covering Poverty - A Tool Kit for Journalists
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News.   Hurricane follow-up: North Carolinians in some towns are facing a housing shortage after Florence. Elsewhere, low-income communities struggle after a wildfire, often with long-lasting effects. Rice University announced free tuition for low- and middle-income students. California state funds and an SF-based company are bringing rooftop solar to low-income communities. The U.S. recovery is eluding many living below poverty level, the New York Times reports. And an Atlantic editor asks, "Is America Facing a Labor Shortage?"

Data & reports. Resources for your reporting this week:
  • In 33 states, Hispanic or black children are more than twice as likely to be in poverty than their white peers, Child Trends reports. In some states, that's even higher - in 18 states, the rate is three times as high. In Nevada, it's four times as high, and in Minnesota, it's five times as high. Wow!
  • Working caregivers are facing poor financial well-being on several fronts, Gallup reports, especially for those younger than 45 who can't pay for medicine or health care for family members. Gallup offers strategies for employers to help.
  • Ready for the next generation of child support? Interestingly enough, the Department of Health and Human Services released a new report about next steps. It's a great jumping-off point for story ideas: Child support serves fewer families than it once did. Fewer parents have child support agreements. How do we approach co-parenting in 2018 and beyond? (As someone who once benefited from child support, I find this development quite interesting. Will it go anywhere?)
Events:
  • Next week, the Tax Credits for Workers and Their Families group is holding a Capitol Hill policy briefing on Sept. 25 about expanding the federal EITC. As you may know, the Earned Income Tax Credit helps 26 million Americans keep more income from their taxes. It's primarily for households with kids, and this briefing will discuss expansion for those who don't have dependents but are among the working poor.
  • The Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis holds its Geographies of Poverty conference on November 16. The line-up of nine experts and poverty researchers from around the country will talk about segregation, the importance of neighborhoods, and mobility in perpetuating disadvantage. Register by Nov. 2.
Interesting note: Earlier this week, the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions group and the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center released an update about their projects trying to address housing stability, homelessness, energy and poverty. I often keep my eye on Detroit when looking at story ideas and potential solutions. What's working and what's not in Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor and others? You might find a story direction.

Carefully curating for you,
Carolyn Crist

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