Graphic by Norie Wright By Mollie Montague Edited by Courtney Schneider Introduction A neighbor first handed JaQuay a gun when he was nine years old. Two years later he was arrested, placing him in a system that put up consistent barriers to education, employment, and housing. By fifteen, JaQuay was already experiencing housing and food… Read more »
Graphic by Norie Wright Written by Julia Selby Edited by Courtney Schneider Introduction Corruption, fraud, and abuse are rife within the public housing industry. The largest provider of public housing in the United States, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), is no exception. Though corrupt practices have plagued the agency throughout its history, recent… Read more »
The mental health system in the United States has historically lacked appropriate care for patients experiencing severe mental illness. During the 1960s, mental healthcare shifted from institutional settings to community-based services [1]. Although this shift gave patients with severe mental illness more autonomy over their care, it led to market forces driving a reduction in psychiatric beds without a parallel increase in support for community services [2]. As such, patients seeking preventative care for severe mental illness face long waitlists for community-based services; instead, these patients divert to ill-equipped emergency departments (EDs) for treatment of acute episodes but likewise wait long periods in hallways or other emergency room areas for an inpatient bed, also known as “boarding.”