In Nevada and neighboring states, boom times hastened the demise of cash assistance for the poor.
ProPublica ProPublica <[link removed]> Donate <[link removed]>
The Big Story
Thu. Dec 30, 2021
<[link removed]>
The Cruel Failure of Welfare Reform in the Southwest <[link removed]> A ProPublica series has found that in Nevada and neighboring states, boom times hastened the demise of cash assistance for the poor — but not poverty. by Eli Hager
VIEW STORY <[link removed]>
More From This Investigation
States Are Hoarding $5.2 Billion in Welfare Funds Even as the Need for Aid Grows <[link removed]> Bonnie Bridgforth supported five children with an $8.50-an-hour job when she was told she no longer qualified for welfare in Maine. But the state — like so many others — was sitting on a huge stockpile of funds. by Hannah Dreyfus <[link removed]>
A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, the State Used Welfare Funds to Take Her Son. <[link removed]> Arizona spends a majority of its welfare budget on the Department of Child Safety. The agency then investigates many poor parents, sometimes removing their children for reasons stemming from their poverty. by Eli Hager, photography by Caitlin O'Hara for ProPublica <[link removed]>
Head of New Mexico Child Support Agency Asks State to Stop Intercepting Payments to Poor Families <[link removed]> Following a ProPublica investigation, the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division is calling on the state Legislature to stop funding the agency with millions in child support confiscated from single mothers who previously received welfare. by Eli Hager <[link removed]>
Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid <[link removed]> Utah’s safety net for the poor is so intertwined with the LDS Church that individual bishops often decide who receives assistance. Some deny help unless a person goes to services or gets baptized. by Eli Hager, photography by Kim Raff for ProPublica <[link removed]>
These Single Moms Are Forced to Choose: Reveal Their Sexual Histories or Forfeit Welfare <[link removed]> Women who apply for welfare often have to identify who fathered their children and when they got pregnant, among other deeply personal details. State governments use that information to pursue child support from the dads — and then pocket the money. by Eli Hager, photography by Adria Malcolm, special to ProPublica <[link removed]>
More From Our Newsroom
New Documents Prove Tennessee County Disproportionately Jails Black Children, and It’s Getting Worse <[link removed]> Newly obtained reports show that Black children in Rutherford County are locked up more than twice as often as population size would suggest. And as the rest of the country has made progress on racial disparities, the county has gotten far worse. by Meribah Knight, Nashville Public Radio, and Ken Armstrong and Hannah Fresques, ProPublica <[link removed]>
Burning Sugar Cane Pollutes Communities of Color in Florida. Brazil Shows There’s Another Way. <[link removed]> Florida’s largest sugar companies say cane burns are safe and can’t be stopped without economic harm. But Brazil has successfully transitioned away from the controversial practice, and experts there say the U.S. can follow their lead. by Nadia Sussman <[link removed]>
When Dangerous Strains of Salmonella Hit, the Turkey Industry Responded Forcefully. The Chicken Industry? Not So Much. <[link removed]> Consolidation in the poultry industry may be fueling widespread salmonella outbreaks. Turkey companies worked with researchers to eradicate one. So why can’t the chicken industry do the same? by Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung <[link removed]>
Accused of Refusing Aid to Disabled Kids, a State Agency Responded — by Hiring a PR Firm <[link removed]> Charging nearly $200k, the firm promised to help Florida’s NICA program “win in the court of public opinion.” But in the end, state lawmakers insisted that administrators listen to parents and make changes. by Carol Marbin Miller and Daniel Chang, Miami Herald <[link removed]>
Your Free-Range Organic Chicken May Have Been Processed at a Large Industrial Poultry Plant <[link removed]> To help us make sense of the opaque poultry supply chain, hundreds of ProPublica readers sent in details about their chickens and turkeys. Here’s what we learned. by Andrea Suozzo, Maryam Jameel, Michael Grabell and Bernice Yeung <[link removed]>
They Were the Pandemic’s Perfect Victims <[link removed]> The pandemic killed so many dialysis patients that their total number shrunk for the first time in nearly half a century. Few people took notice. by Duaa Eldeib <[link removed]>
A Plant That Sterilizes Medical Equipment Spews Cancer-Causing Pollution on Tens of Thousands of Schoolchildren <[link removed]> Nobody told Yaneli Ortiz’s family that the factory they lived near emitted ethylene oxide. Not when the EPA found it causes cancer. Not when she was diagnosed with leukemia. And not when Texas moved to allow polluters to emit more of the chemical. by Kiah Collier, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Maya Miller, ProPublica, photography by Kathleen Flynn, special to ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, graphics by Al Shaw and Lucas Waldron <[link removed]>
The Low-and-Slow Approach to Food Safety Reform Keeps Going Up in Smoke <[link removed]> The U.S. has one agency that regulates cheese pizza and another that oversees pepperoni pizza. Efforts to fix the food safety system have stalled again and again. by Bernice Yeung, Michael Grabell and Mollie Simon <[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
Find us on Facebook <[link removed]> Follow us on Twitter <[link removed]> Follow us on Instagram <[link removed]> Watch us on Youtube <[link removed]> Donate <[link removed]>
Get the ProPublica mobile app:
Download on the App Store <[link removed]> Get it on Google Play <[link removed]>
Was this email forwarded to you from a friend? Subscribe. <[link removed]> Want less email? Click here if you only want to receive one ProPublica newsletter each week. This email was sent to
[email protected]. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe <[link removed]> to stop receiving this newsletter. Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. <[link removed]> ProPublica • 155 Ave of the Americas, 13th Floor • New York, NY 10013 <a href="[link removed]><img src="[link removed]" alt="" border="0" /></a>