Molly Parker
ProPublica Distinguished Fellow
Lawmakers Demand Action on Child Welfare Failures
Calls for improved access to mental health and substance abuse treatment follow reporting by ProPublica and The Southern Illinoisan on the large number of parents investigated repeatedly by Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services.
What We Lose When We Conflate Child “Abuse” and “Neglect”
Growing up in Southern Illinois, I knew many children whose basic needs went unmet. Reporting here decades later, I began to wonder why the system wasn’t doing more to help their families.
The State Took His Kids Three Times. And Three Times It Gave Them Back.
In Southern Illinois, many families suspected of neglect cycle through the child welfare system. Too often they don’t get the help they need.
My Home Is a Place That Feels Safe. For Too Many Families, That’s Not the Case.
Where we live becomes part of who we are. It affects our quality of life. That’s why I report on low-income housing.
“They Painted Over Problems”: How Residents of One Affordable Housing Complex Went From Hope to Despair
Twenty years after a private developer took over an affordable housing complex, the property has deteriorated once again and is in need of a multimillion-dollar renovation. A multilayered and confusing financial situation has left some tenants distressed.
Inside Public Housing Where Cockroaches Drop From the Wall and Kids are Getting Sick
Illinois’ HUD inspection failure rate is among the worst in the nation. A housing authority has delayed replacing one property for more than a decade. As the need for public housing rises, conditions in the aging structures are deteriorating.
HUD Inspect: See if Publicly Subsidized Housing Units Passed or Failed Government Inspections
Across the country, publicly subsidized housing residents have discovered that passing scores on HUD inspections often don't match the reality of their living conditions. Look up housing complex scores near you.
Trump Called Baltimore “Vermin Infested” While the Federal Government Fails to Clean Up Rodents in Subsidized Housing
Baltimore’s public housing is among the most dilapidated and dangerous in the country — nearly half of complexes failed inspection — and Trump just spent a week attacking the city on Twitter.
HUD’s Inspection System Gets a Poor Grade in Congressional Watchdog’s Report
The Government Accountability Office’s findings mirror those of an investigation by The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica, which documented numerous cases in which substandard housing complexes received passing — and even glowing — scores from HUD.
HUD Plans to Reduce Notice Given Before Inspections, but Advocates Are Unimpressed
A plan recently announced by the agency doesn’t address its much-maligned scoring system, despite recommendations drafted in 2016 by senior department officials.
HUD’s System for Processing Public Records Requests Died During the Shutdown
The contract for the agency’s electronic system for managing FOIA requests lapsed in early January and hasn’t been renewed. Delays are mounting.
What I Learned Covering HUD: Oversight Failures Are Symptoms of Deeper Dysfunction
My goal this year was to explore HUD’s failure to enforce legal standards for decent, safe, sanitary housing. What started as a simple premise brought to light greater challenges: Years of congressional cuts have left the agency in a state of chaos as communities suffer.
How a Consultant Said He Gamed HUD Inspections: Sweep Problems Behind a Wall
A housing consultant was recorded bragging about how he helped properties pass HUD inspections, likening it to a “chess game manipulation strategy.”
HUD Took Over a Town’s Housing Authority 22 Years Ago. Now the Authority’s Broke and Residents Are Being Pushed Out.
As recently as last year, HUD had told officials in Wellston, Missouri, that they would get their local housing authority back. Then federal officials changed their minds. Wellston will join a growing list of HUD oversight failures, including the Illinois cities of East St. Louis and Cairo.
HUD Tallied Numerous Violations in New York City Public Housing. It Still Gave Passing Grades.
Officials said the city’s housing authority used “every trick in the book to conceal building violations from federal inspectors,” but HUD inspection records suggest there’s more to the story.
“Pretty Much a Failure”: HUD Inspections Pass Dangerous Apartments Filled With Rats, Roaches and Toxic Mold
The system for inspecting federally subsidized properties is failing low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities and undermining the agency’s oversight, The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica have found.
HUD Inspect
The government inspects taxpayer-subsidized apartment buildings. See which ones passed and failed.
How HUD’s Inspection System Fails Low-Income Tenants Nationwide
Dangerous buildings sometimes pass inspections and scores whipsaw with seemingly little explanation, an analysis by The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica has found. The system has led to a culture of making cosmetic fixes and avoiding major repairs.
Senators Seek Answers From HUD About Public Housing Crisis in East St. Louis
Last year, HUD Secretary Ben Carson gave control of the city’s public housing complexes back to local officials after a lengthy federal receivership. He said problems had been fixed, but an investigation by The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica found deteriorating conditions.
Ben Carson Declared Mission Accomplished in East St. Louis — Where Public Housing Is Still a Disaster
The HUD secretary came to town last year and declared residents were no longer at risk, three decades after the federal government took over public housing here. In fact, the complexes are falling apart and a woman was killed in the weeks before his visit.
