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Why Oslo's 'greedy method' may be the answer to Utah's air pollution woes

Erica Evans

October 17, 2018 |

Deseret News |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Norway, Oslo

Faced with poor air quality, the city of Oslo instituted a set of policy measures that have resulted in a dramatic improvement. Many of these policies center around transportation including incentivizing the production and purchase of electric cars, reducing the number of cars in the city, and creating car-free zones.

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Teen's death leads to lasting suicide prevention project

Mary Shinn

October 17, 2018 |

Durango Herald |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Durango, Colorado

Building connections between teenagers and their community is an important step in suicide prevention among youth. The CODY Project recruits adult and teenage volunteers to hold mental awareness training at 4-H club and other community meetings. The Project seeks to open up communication, working as a bridge between teens and community partners.

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How a bench and a team of grandmothers can tackle depression

Rachel Nuwer

October 16, 2018 |

BBC |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Zimbabwe, Harare

In order to increase Zimbabwean’s ability to access mental health care, a psychiatrist trained grandmothers in talk therapy. Working from a “friendship bench,” these new trainees have provided evidence-based, culturally competent care to thousands of people since the start of the program in 2006.

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‘Rental sisters' for Japan's Reclusive Young Men

Harriet Noble Amelia Martyn-Hemphill

October 16, 2018 |

BBC |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Japan, Tokyo

A unique issue in Japan is that of the “Hikikomori” – men who have totally withdrawn from society, often as a response to bullying, depression, or trauma. The NGO, New Start, offers a “rental sister” program, which provide the Hikikomori with an older female mentor to interact with and guide them toward more independent lives. Along the way, the hope is that they’ll build trusting relationships and practice social engagement.

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The Lasting Pain of Children Sent to Orphanages, Rather Than Families

Tina Rosenberg

October 16, 2018 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica, San Jose

Casa Viva is an organization in Latin America that prioritizes family reunification over adoption. They have placed about 640 children with foster families, “60 percent of those went back to their biological family or another relative. About 35 percent were adopted.” In contrast to foster homes, orphanages have become thriving business which recruit western volunteers and charge them large fees. Casa Viva opposes this model because most kids have parents who are alive, but can’t afford to raise them.

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Changing the environment in Iowa's prisons to change results for women

Jessica Pupovac

October 14, 2018 |

Chicago Reporter |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Mitchelville, Iowa

The Iowa Correctional Institution for Women has reformed how inmates are treated, adapting approaches informed by gender and past trauma. A new campus provides private counseling suites and a mental health unit, larger cells with light controls and a visitation area with play space and a garden so women can engage with their children. Disciplinary policies have also shifted toward building women up for returning to society rather than automatic discipline for small infractions.

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To Protect the Environment, Buddhist Monks Are Ordaining Trees

August Rick

October 11, 2018 |

Sojourners |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Cambodia

In Cambodia, it is Buddhist tradition and protocol to ordain a tree when a new monk was inducted. Since it is taboo to harm a monk, this practice inadvertently doubled as a conservation tactic by preventing deforestation ongoings, eventually leading those of this faith to be dubbed ecology monks.

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The Love Story that Upended the Texas Prison System

Ethan Watters

October 11, 2018 |

Texas Monthly |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

An unlikely relationship between Frances Jalet, an attorney, and Fred Cruz, an inmate, led to some of the most historic rulings against the Texas Department of Corrections. Jalet became a plaintiff in one of the suits, and alongside two dozen other inmates, called the Eight Hoe squad, they drafted a lawsuit. Despite targeted attacks against Jalet and the inmates by prison leadership, they won in the courts. In 1980, a federal judge declared that the Texas Department of Corrections was operating unconstitutionally.

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The Crime Machine, Part I

PJ Vogt

October 11, 2018 |

Gimlet Media |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The creation of CompStat fostered a huge drop in crime rates in New York City by the 1990s. The idea came from an odd and obsessive transit cop was to track every single crime daily in every precinct and use that data to systematically go after everything from murders to low-level crimes once ignored by police. It was a drastic shift in the way NYPD worked and was credited with making the city far safer, but was also flawed.

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Fixing the Problems We Can Fix

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

October 10, 2018 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A Philadelphia non-profit is targeting young people who struggle when leaving the foster care system and providing them with comprehensive services to help them transition into independent living successfully; that includes helping them find jobs, homes, and more. The program is based off a model from Youth Villages, a national nonprofit, and is showing impressive results - for example, "90 percent of the youth who joined the program were in need of stable housing; now, 35 percent have their own homes, and the rest live with family, former foster families or in supervised independent living."

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