Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/ehensley/)
Erica Hensley joins Mississippi Today as an investigative and data reporter. Hensley earned a B.A. in print journalism from the University of Southern California and a M.A. in health and medical journalism from University of Georgia. Her writing has appeared on Rural Health Quarterly, WebMD and Georgia Health News.
Proponents say measure “clarifies that they can’t be left in the property indefinitely.” But critics argue that policies making it easier for landlords to evict will only add to Mississippi’s affordable housing problem.
Two years after a national report ranked Mississippi last in the nation for patient protection, Mississippi Today and WLBT examined thousands of doctor disciplinary records and found a lack of transparency in dealing with problem doctors and an agency slow to enact patient safeguards.
The Brookhaven lawmaker dishes on reforming sex education, domestic abuse laws and the need for pay equity
Bri Jackson, the protagonist of the Mississippi-born author’s second novel, finds that hip-hop success always comes with strings attached
While experts say the uncertainty from changes likely kept some out of the marketplace, 4,658 more Mississippians signed up this year – a 6 percent gain.
With other abortion cases pending, the amount is likely to increase
Despite obstacles, Mississippi enrollment in the Affordable Care Act is steady compared to last year
Pro-choice and pro-life groups see the Magnolia State as ground zero for the abortion debate
Repeat eviction judgments are commonplace across Mississippi – ranked eighth in the nation for evictions – and justice courts are where most land.
In the reporting of “Fighting to keep my place’: How a housing program to help families out of poverty may trap some in it,” Mississippi Today used the following methodology:
Using Eviction Lab – a Princeton-based research team – data that aggregated every eviction across the nation from 2000 to 2016 and ranked Jackson fifth and Mississippi eighth highest for eviction rates, we analyzed trends and demographic data from the same 17-year window and narrowed our focus to DeSoto and Hinds counties. Tunica had the state’s highest eviction records according to the data, but we excluded it from original analysis due to its small population. We specifically zeroed in on Horn Lake, Southaven and Jackson – all of which consistently ranked highest for mid- to large-size cities for per-capita evictions compared to their county and the state overall, and represent very different parts of the state. In a Mississippi Today analysis of every eviction in DeSoto County from 2006 to July 2018 (more than 17,000 eviction court filings), we found a high rate of repeat evictions in justice court. Repeat evictions differ from estimates of actual removals, calculated by the Eviction Lab.
Lax oversight in a federal housing program leaves a trail of evictions and unanswered questions over its benefit to desperate families
Nic Stone’s debut bestseller, “Dear Martin” exposes how discrimination affects the daily lives of black teens, even if they play by all the rules