Some of the best #MuckReads we read this week. Want to receive these by email? Sign up to get this briefing delivered to your inbox every weekend.
How Habitat for Humanity Went to Brooklyn and Poor Families Lost Their Homes, ProPublica
How Habitat for Humanity used federal dollars to push poor people out of Bed Stuy https://t.co/P6eqMr8eEN
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) April 1, 2016
Habitat for Humanity NYC received a $21 million federal grant to revamp buildings in 2011. They decided on the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, with the goal of renovating long vacant properties. But there was just one problem: with few vacant properties in the area, poor families were pushed out to make room for the project.
How Prison Phone Calls Became A Tax On The Poor, International Business Times
(1/2) Private co. contracts with prison to charge inmates huge fees for basic services. Prison gets a cut. https://t.co/ZDIbeeR2Xh
— Chris Hamby (@ChrisDHamby) March 31, 2016
Studies have shown that recidivism rates drop when inmates are allowed to communicate with family members. But that communication can be expensive – and as prisons continue to license prison phone calls to private companies in exchange for hefty "commission" fees, that is unlikely to change, according to this article. Last year alone, Marion County, Florida, received more than half a million dollars in commissions from Securus Technologies, a for-profit prison technology company that charges about $4 for 15-minute calls. "I can only do like $20 per month. That's all I can afford," said one Florida inmate's mother. "That's only three phone calls."
Poison Profits, Huffington Post/WNYC
#muckreads@WNYC@HUFFINGTONPOST INVESTIGATION: These NYC landlords see lead poisoning as a cost of doing business https://t.co/HOn4p8qY0Z
— Jim Schachter (@jimschachter) March 31, 2016
New York City cited nearly 2,000 landlords for lead safety violations between November 2013 and January 2016, with 200 landlords accounting for half of all violations. But as lead concerns grow in wake of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, some New York landlords see ignoring lead risks "as the cost of doing business," according to this investigation.
Profiteering masquerades as medical care for injured California workers, Reveal
Medical scams abound in CA workers comp system, vicitmizing workers @By_CJewetthttps://t.co/2vxG9UraXE#muckreadspic.twitter.com/XRKjfMfcxS
— Amy Julia Harris (@amyjharris) March 31, 2016
In several cases, "pay-to-play schemes trump patient care," in California's workers' compensation system, and workers are prescribed "unregulated treatments" and medications. But, as prosecutors have started pursuing charges against medical professionals accused of fraud, that may be changing.
As SAT was hit by security breaches, College Board went ahead with tests that had leaked, Reuters
If you or your kid are taking the SAT, read @Reuters series on security flaws in the test. Part 1: https://t.co/YgRNhfl3Zw@CollegeBoard
— Michael Williams (@williamsmjw) March 29, 2016
The College Board — the company that owns and administers the SAT — has admitted in recent years to "widespread problems with test security in Asia," but the problems might be bigger than they let on. This investigation found at least eight incidents since late 2013 where SAT test material circulated online before the test was given overseas.
Choking to Death in Detroit: Flint Isn't Michigan's Only Disaster, Newsweek
An environmental disaster is destroying black lives in Southwest Detroit https://t.co/RpEZiQ5UGn via @zoeschlanger
— Ben Adler (@badler) March 31, 2016
