Statewide hotline to support mental health during and after pregnancy

TUCSON – A hotline expected to launch next spring seeks to help improve access to information and treatment options for perinatal mental health.

Allison, who asked that only her first name be used because of concerns about mental health stigma, sits in front of her home in Tucson on Nov. 3, 2022. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 18, Allison sought help from a perinatal psychiatrist when she decided to start a family. A new statewide hotline aims to help more people like her. (Photo by Laura Bargfeld/Cronkite News)

Border communities, Border Patrol brace for migrant surge as Title 42 ends

TUCSON - Record-high numbers of migrants stressed humanitarian organizations and border officials alike in 2022. Now, both groups are bracing for a new surge, with the end next week of Title 42, a pandemic-era rule that allowed 2.5 million migrants to be turned away.


Arizona taking steps to combat maternal mortality, one doula at a time

TEMPE – A new doula advisory committee in Arizona is developing certification procedures for the nonmedical labor professionals. It will bring the state one step closer to increasing access to doulas – who, research shows, can help prevent pregnancy-associated deaths.

Latisa Ratliff holds her daughter in her living room in Tempe, Arizona, on Nov. 16, 2022. As a birth doula and a mother of three, Ratliff encourages her clients to find a health care provider who listens to their individual needs. “Listen to that mother’s intuition,” Ratliff says. (Photo by Laura Bargfeld/Cronkite News)

Arizona resumed executions in 2022, outgoing Brnovich seeks one more

WASHINGTON - After an eight-year hiatus, Arizona executed three death-row inmates in 2022, the most it has carried out in a decade. And Attorney General Mark Brnovich has set the wheels in motion for a fourth execution, which could come after he leaves office next month.


Phoenix nursery provides model solution for newborns exposed to opioids

PHOENIX – Hushabye Nursery uses a model called Eat, Sleep, Console to treat newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome, the result of withdrawing from drugs they were exposed to before birth. The nursery gives parents and babies private rooms to allow for family-centered care, with the goal of breaking the cycle of addiction across generations.

A staff member at Hushabye Nursery in Phoenix feeds one of the babies on Nov. 8, 2022. Infants brought to the nursery are withdrawing from drugs they were exposed to before birth – opioids, in particular. Across the country, cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome increased 82% from 2010 to 2017. That means that in the U.S., a baby is diagnosed with NAS every 19 minutes. (Photo by Laura Bargfeld/Cronkite News)

‘Like a home:’ Filipino American students join to raise visibility, preserve heritage

LOS ANGELES – Young Filipino people turn to cultural clubs and organizations for a sense of community at the Universities to educate themselves and others. The struggle to better understand their culture and heritage has led them out of their homes and into classrooms.

Children try out the swings in Unidad Park in Los Angeles' Unidad Park, situated in the Historic Filipinotown section of the city, in this photo taken Nov. 21, 2022. (Photo by Emeril Gordon/Cronkite News)

Filipinos in LA look to a gateway as their ‘guiding star’ to salvage a neglected history

LOS ANGELES – Historic Filipinotown, or HiFi, is supposed to be the center of the Filipino community in Los Angeles, but it lacks key identifying factors that many cultural communities have in their respective districts. The strides to make this a reality have been slow, but community members have been working to make the Filipino community’s presence known.

Los Angeles' Historic Filipinotown was given a grand gateway to a community that Filipino Americans say has been overlooked, as seen in this photo taken Nov. 17, 2022 (Photo by Emeril Gordon/Cronkite News)

Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series brings social justice issues, HBCUs to the forefront

PHOENIX – Arizona and Arizona State’s basketball programs are getting a chance to learn more about historically Black colleges and universities through a partnership between the Pac-12 and the Southwestern Athletic Conference.


Hotel Heave-Ho: LA unhoused could return to streets as Project Roomkey winds down

LOS ANGELES – The L.A. Grand Hotel has housed the unsheltered under a federal grant in the name of public safety during the pandemic. Now, authorities intend to lock the door on the remaining Project Roomkey participants at two hotels by February.


Food banks get lesson in economics: More demand, less supply, higher prices

WASHINGTON – Arizona food banks head into the holiday season having to buy more food, at higher prices, for more clients, with fewer donations to help pay for it. It's a perfect storm of inflation, supply chain issues, increased demand – and a bird virus that's hit turkeys.


‘We see value in you’: Arizona organization helps bridge gaps between foster kids and families

PHOENIX – An estimated 80% of the more than 400,000 children in foster care across the U.S. struggle with significant mental health issues. In Arizona, one nonprofit is working to help children persevere – by offering services for foster youth and parents alike.

Russ Funk, left, is director of community engagement for Aid to Adoption of Special Kids in Phoenix. Funk and his wife have been foster parents, and two of their four children are adopted and biracial. “They integrated into our home at a very early age, and so it was just a natural thing,” he said, adding that those experiences are what drove him to work with other foster families. (Photo courtesy of AASK)

Appeals court gives Resolution Copper mine opponents another chance

WASHINGTON - A federal court said it will take another look at claims that the proposed Resolution Copper mine should be delayed because it sits on land sacred to the Apache and would violate their religious rights by destroying Oak Flat.