Emily Hopkins

Abrams Reporting Fellow

Emily Hopkins was an Abrams Reporting Fellow at ProPublica.

Before joining ProPublica, Hopkins was an investigative reporter for The Indianapolis Star. In 2020, their work exposed deep flaws in Indiana’s nursing home system that allowed county hospitals to access more than $1 billion in Medicaid funds meant for nursing home care. The series prompted the resignation of Marion County’s top health official and major reforms to how the state regulates long-term care funding. The investigation won an IRE Medal and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Hopkins is based in Chicago.

There Were Warning Signs of Sexual Abuse at a Youth Center. Indiana Kept Sending Boys and Money Anyway.

Inadequate and potentially illegal policies allowed supervisors at Pierceton Woods Academy to ignore what one psychologist called an “assembly-line” of abuse, according to court depositions and government records.

Minnesota Board of Nursing Executive Director Steps Down Amid Accusations of Mismanagement

The Minnesota Nursing Board was weighing terminating Executive Director Kimberly Miller, who had been criticized for a growing backlog of complaints against nurses.

Minnesota Lets Nurses Practice While Disciplinary Investigations Drag On. Patients Keep Getting Hurt.

A 2015 state audit found the Minnesota Board of Nursing was slow to act on complaints about nurses, putting the public at risk. The board ramped up its discipline for a few years, but now cases are backing up again.

Michigan’s Largest Utility Wants a Rate Hike as It Disconnects a High Number of Customers for Nonpayment

DTE Energy has cut off power to customers more times in 2022 than in any nine-month period since the state began tracking shut-offs.

Michigan’s Largest Utility Faces Pushback on Debt Sales and Shut-Offs as Company Asks for Rate Hike

As DTE Energy pushes for a rate increase, the state is taking a closer look at its sale of customer debt to collection agencies. The company’s use of shut-offs and response to outages are also drawing criticism.

She Didn’t Know She Still Owed Money to Her Utility. Then 25% of Her Paycheck Was Gone.

After the state’s largest utility sold consumer debt, thousands of Detroiters faced default judgments and garnished wages. The utility only reaped pennies on the dollar.

In Debate Over Chicago’s Speed Cameras, Concerns Over Safety, Racial Disparities Collide

Cities nationwide look to Chicago as officials wrestle with whether speed cameras have improved traffic safety enough to justify their financial burden on Black and Latino motorists.

Vaccine Medical Exemptions Are Rare. Thousands of Nursing Home Workers Have Them.

A federal mandate for health care workers was supposed to close the vaccine gap. Weeks after the deadline, many remain unvaccinated, new data shows.

Chicago’s “Race-Neutral” Traffic Cameras Ticket Black and Latino Drivers the Most

A ProPublica analysis found that traffic cameras in Chicago disproportionately ticket Black and Latino motorists. But city officials plan to stick with them — and other cities may adopt them too.

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