News and Features

Episode 5 – 10/24/25

by Jack Dealy | February 2, 2026 | Hope Pod Live | 0 Comments

Communities of Hope, a civic media organization at Roger Williams University, is developing an AI-powered chatbot to assist incarcerated youth and children in foster care systems. The tool, created by database team members Ashlyn Keating, Dennis Kinger, and Eric Tech,...

Episode 3 – 10/10/25

by Jack Dealy | February 2, 2026 | Hope Pod Live | 0 Comments

Communities of Hope, a civic media organization at Roger Williams University, is working to serve local communities through accessible information and education. Director Bernardo Motta discussed the organization's approach to community-centered journalism, including...

Episode 2: Mental Health and Lifelong Impacts on Foster Care Youth

by Molly Stinchfield | January 28, 2026 | Solutions Journalism | 0 Comments

This story is a part of the Solutions Journalism Network Media Challenge, where we report on mental health within the juvenile justice and foster care systems.”

Hope Pod Live! Episode 8

by Rebecca Scheffler | Nov 13, 2025 | Hope Pod Live Full Episodes

Garden Time Uses Prison Gardens and Green Jobs Training to Support Rehabilitation at Rhode Island’s ACI

by Rebecca Scheffler | Nov 13, 2025 | Solutions Journalism

Garden Time is a Rhode Island–based organization that works to humanize the situation at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institution. They run three programs: an In-Prison Garden Education Program, which teaches incarcerated individuals sustainable agricultural...

Poverty, Bias, and the Systemic Over-Removal of Black Children in Foster Care

by Claire Kelley | Nov 3, 2025 | Solutions Journalism

This story details the disproportionate representation and negative outcomes for Black children in the foster care system. Black children, who make up about 14% of the child population, represent 22% to 23% of children in foster care and are removed from their homes...

“Good on Paper, Not in Practice”: Addressing the Persistent Mental Health Crisis in Rhode Island’s Juvenile Justice System

by Claire Kelley | Nov 3, 2025 | Solutions Journalism

A new Communities of Hope report highlights systemic gaps in Rhode Island’s juvenile justice mental health services, revealing that state‑mandated protections often fall short of meeting adolescents’ needs. Although the Department of Children, Youth, and Families...