Investigative Reporting Program
Making churches more welcoming for members with dementia: ‘ We don’t want them to think they’re forgotten.’
Celeste Hamilton Dennis ('24) reports on a program to make church services more welcoming to members with dementia
Violence and ‘crisis’: How hundreds of L.A. County’s abused children ended up in hotels
Kathryn Hurd ('21) finds that state officials have run out of foster homes, leading them to put abused youth in unlicensed places.
After police killings, families are kept in the dark and grilled for information
Brian Howey ('23) reports on how police officers are trained to grill family members after police shootings. This story was Brian's investigation in Prof. David Barstow's second year investigative reporting seminar.
Amid FBI investigation, Antioch police refuse to release use of force records, including a controversial neck hold that has since been widely banned
IRP Reporters Krissy Waite ('23) and Bella Arnold ('24) contribute to reporting on Antioch's refusal to release records that would shed light on police use of force.
Nearly 1.5 million California seniors could get help to buy food, but don’t. Here’s why
Kori Suzuki reports the latest in our coverage of Aging in American
Long-term HIV survivors find familial support in unique S.F. group home
Jeremiah Rhodes ('24) reports on older adults living with HIV, the latest in the IRP's coverage of Aging in America
How SF’s Affordable Housing Crisis Is Crushing Retirement For Its Low-Income Seniors
Chris Chang reports on how low-income seniors struggle to find housing in San Fransciso.
The Black Box: Colleges spend thousands on AI to prevent suicides and shootings. Evidence that it works is scant.
The second installment of Ari Sen (22) and Dereka Bennett's (22) investigation into how colleges use AI to monitor students published by The Dallas Morning News
‘Villages’ for the aging coming to more Black communities
Myah Overstreet reports on the Kingdom Care Senior Village in the latest from our Aging in America Project.
Is High School Running in Need of a Reckoning?
Margie Cullen ('22) and Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) report for Runner's World on the troubling consequences of increasingly competitive high school running programs.
‘DYING INSIDE’: CHAOS AND CRUELTY IN LOUISIANA JUVENILE DETENTION
Meg Shutzer and Rachel Mueller's deeply reported investigation into the Ware Youth Center in Louisiana publishes on the front page of The New York Times
The unseen toll of nonfatal police shootings
Brian Howey ('22) reports with Wesley Lowery on the devastating toll of nonfatal police shootings for The Washington Post.
Inside Anti-Abortion Groups’ Campaign to Sell Women on Unreliable Birth Control “Alternatives”
Berkeley Journalism students provided reporting for this story in collaboration with Mother Jones, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, UC Berkeley's Human Right Center on this investigation.
Tracked: How colleges use AI to monitor student protests
Ari Sen (22) and Dereka Bennett's (22) investigation into how colleges use AI to monitor students published by The Dallas Morning News
LGBTQ seniors can struggle to find affordable housing. A Sacramento development is trying to help.
Felicia Alvarez ('23) reports on on an affordable housing community aimed at LGBTQ seniors in Sacramento.
How to keep older adults safer during heat waves? Give them housemates.
Sofie Kodner ('22) reports on intergenerational housing as a way to protect seniors during extreme heat waves.
Climate change is fueling extreme heat. Who’s looking out for the most vulnerable Americans?
Katie Rodriguez ('23) reports on the risk extreme heat poses to older Americans and how "buddy" programs are emerging to help.
When Private Equity Takes Over a Nursing Home
Yasmin Rafiei, the Investigative Reporting Program's reporter in residence, reports on the devastating decline in residents’ care and increase in deaths after the acquisition of St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged.
In Climate-Driven Disasters, Older People and the Disabled Are Most at Risk. Now In-Home Caregivers Are Being Trained in How to Help Them
Katie Rodriguez ('23) reports how in-home caregivers are preparing for climate emergencies for the IRP's Aging in America project.
Dancing away the loneliness: In the UK, social prescriptions help fight isolation during the pandemic
Sofie Kodner ('22) and Zachary Fletcher ('22) report on social prescriptions for loneliness in older adults for the IRP's Aging in America reporting project.
US-expelled Haitians fuel charter business to Latin America
Planes arrive empty to Haiti but return to South America full. An Associated Press, Investigative Reporting Program, and Berkeley Human Rights Center investigation reveals how Haitians have become a lucrative market for travel agencies and low-budget airlines
News Analysis: Anthony, Noah, Gabriel and beyond: How to fix L.A. County DCFS
Reporter Garrett Therolf of the Investigative Reporting Program and Matt Hamilton of the Los Angeles Times report on the systemic flaws behind L.A. County's failure to prevent child abuse.
No way out: How the poor get stranded in California nursing homes
Jesse Bedayn ('21) reports for CalMatters on how nursing home residents end up stuck in facilities and unable to return to the community.
How new monitoring systems keep a close watch on older people
Sofie Kodner ('22) reports on how surveillance technology is changing caregiving for older Americans.
Conversation and Cookies Lead to An Intergenerational Friendship
Zachary Fletcher ('22) reports on the friendship of octogenarian Sukari Addison and millennial Kathleen Toohill.
How Amtrak Trains Became One Retired Traveler’s Sanctuary During the Pandemic
Will McCarthy ('21) reports on one woman's trip across the country during the pandemic.
‘It makes a humongous difference’: Lack of Wi-Fi in city SROs deepens residents’ isolation
Sofie Kodner ('22) reports on lack of access to the internet in San Francisco's SRO buildings.
Before a 4-year-old boy’s killing, authorities wavered on rescuing him
An investigation by the Investigative Reporting Program and Los Angeles Times uncovered how failures in the child welfare system led to a young child's death.
Extreme weather hurts older Californians. That’s started a wave of climate activism
Zachary Fletcher ('22) reports on a new wave of climate activism among older adults.
Doulas hope to regain momentum as Covid restrictions ease
Sarah Hoenicke Flores ('19) reports on how Covid restrictions have affected doula care. Photos by Stephanie Penn ('21).
Drought in the Klamath Basin inflames a decades-old war over water and fish
In this story for Inside Climate News, Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) reports on how the drought has fueled tensions between farmers and Klamath tribes.
Hope and disappointment for the homeless in Oakland
Brett Simpson ('21) reports for The New York Times on a homeless couple's yearlong odyssey to find permanent housing in Oakland.
An explosion in Texas shows the hidden dangers of tanks holding heavy fuels
Sabrina Shankman ('09) and Julia Kane ('21) report on safety hazards posed by tanks holding heavy fuels.
California’s almond trees rely on honey bees and wild pollinators, but a lack of good habitat is making their job harder
Anne Marshall-Chalmers reports on how pesticides and drought are putting a strain on honey bees and wild pollinators - and the crops that depend on them
Essential caregivers were locked out of nursing homes during COVID-19. Advocates don’t want it to happen again.
Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) reports for USA Today on the movement to allow essential caregivers to enter nursing homes, even during a pandemic.
Oakland police overtime payments straining city’s budget
Noah Baustin ('22) reports on how dozens of Oakland police officers are collecting six-figure overtime payments
‘I feel freer.’ How California program helps seniors ‘age at home’ during pandemic
Jesse Bedayn ('21) reports on a California program that helps older adults age at home instead of long-term care facilities
Dozens of Oakland police officers earn six-figure overtime payments, busting city budget
Noah Baustin ('22) reports that dozens of Oakland police officers earn more than the city's mayor, due to overtime payments
Noxious neighbors: The EPA knows tanks holding heavy fuels emit harmful chemicals. Why are Americans still at risk?
Sabrina Shankman ('09) and Julia Kane ('21) report on health hazards posed by bulk storage tanks.
“I felt hate more than anything”: How an active duty airman tried to start a civil war
Gisela Pérez de Acha (’20), Kathryn Hurd (’21) and Ellie Lightfoot (’21) report on one man's journey into extremism and the threat extremist groups pose in the U.S.
With SF mayor’s backing, developer asks to demolish, rebuild 20-year-old public housing
Nina Sparling ('20) reports on plans to raze a public housing site in San Francisco. Ande Richards ('22) and Imran Ali Malik ('22) contributed reporting.
A successful lifeline for Natomas students is feeling the strain
Erin Chessin ('21) and Brett Marsh ('21) report on how the pandemic is putting enormous strain on one school district's mental health program.
Elderly at small residential care homes face challenges getting COVID-19 vaccine
Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) reports on how elderly at small residential care homes are facing challenges getting COVID-19 vaccine
‘How am I going to keep this up?’ COVID intensifies plight of family caregivers
Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) reports on howCOVID is intensifying the plight of family caregivers
Rapid vaccine rollout at California nursing homes raises concern
Anne Marshall-Chalmers ('22) reports on how the rapid vaccine rollout at California nursing homes is raising concerns
With COVID-19 concerns, anxious families eye in-home senior care
As part of our in-depth coverage of aging in America, Brett Simpson ('21) reports for The California Report Magazine on how some families are turning to in-home care as care homes become Covid hot spots.