Eli Hager

Reporter

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Eli Hager is a national reporter for ProPublica who writes about issues affecting people and families living near the poverty line, including social safety net programs, child welfare, criminal justice and education.

Hager is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a two-time Livingston Award finalist and a three-time finalist for the Education Writers Association’s national award. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, “This American Life” and elsewhere.

Hager’s 2021 investigation of foster care agencies that pocket the Social Security benefits of disabled and orphaned children has led to reforms in more than a dozen states.

The “Death Penalty” of Child Welfare: In Six Months or Less, Some Parents Lose Their Kids Forever

Twenty-five years ago, Congress passed a law aimed at speeding up adoptions of children languishing in foster care. In the process, it destroyed hundreds of thousands of families through the termination of parental rights.

For Black Families in Phoenix, Child Welfare Investigations Are a Constant Threat

One in three Black children in Maricopa County, Arizona, faced a child welfare investigation over a five-year period, leaving many families in a state of dread. Some parents are pushing back.

How We Analyzed Child Welfare Investigations

Reporters crunched data from millions of child protective services cases to understand who is most affected by the system.

Police Need Warrants to Search Homes. Child Welfare Agents Almost Never Get One.

Each year, child protective services agencies inspect the homes of roughly 3.5 million children, opening refrigerators and closets without a warrant. Only about 5% of these kids are ultimately found to have been physically or sexually abused.

Help Us Investigate Termination of Parental Rights in the Child Welfare System

If you’ve faced having your parental rights terminated in the past decade, ProPublica and NBC News would like to connect with you to understand how your case was handled.

Help Us Investigate Racial Disparities in Arizona’s Child Welfare System

ProPublica is reporting on the Arizona Department of Child Safety. We want to hear directly from the community.

Southwestern States Make Changes to Welfare After ProPublica Investigations

The moves follow months of reporting on punitive and outdated welfare policies in this part of the country and come amid a yearslong surge in the region’s cost of living.

Welfare Is No Substitute for a Child Tax Credit

Some in Congress say the child tax credit isn’t needed because Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is a success. Our reporting found it’s marked by repeated failures.

The Cruel Failure of Welfare Reform in the Southwest

A ProPublica series has found that in Nevada and neighboring states, boom times hastened the demise of cash assistance for the poor — but not poverty.

A Mother Needed Welfare. Instead, the State Used Welfare Funds to Take Her Son.

Arizona spends a majority of its welfare budget on the Department of Child Safety. The agency then investigates many poor parents, sometimes removing their children for reasons stemming from their poverty.

Head of New Mexico Child Support Agency Asks State to Stop Intercepting Payments to Poor Families

Following a ProPublica investigation, the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division is calling on the state Legislature to stop funding the agency with millions in child support confiscated from single mothers who previously received welfare.

Utah Makes Welfare So Hard to Get, Some Feel They Must Join the LDS Church to Get Aid

Utah’s safety net for the poor is so intertwined with the LDS Church that individual bishops often decide who receives assistance. Some deny help unless a person goes to services or gets baptized.

Para obtener asistencia social, estas madres solteras se ven obligadas a compartir casi todo lo que saben sobre los padres de sus hijos

Las mujeres que solicitan asistencia social tienen que identificar al padre de sus hijos, y cuándo quedaron embarazadas, entre otros detalles personales. El gobierno utiliza esos datos para reclamarle la manutención al padre y se embolsa el dinero.

These Single Moms Are Forced to Choose: Reveal Their Sexual Histories or Forfeit Welfare

Women who apply for welfare often have to identify who fathered their children and when they got pregnant, among other deeply personal details. State governments use that information to pursue child support from the dads — and then pocket the money.

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