Phillip Reese

California Sees Dramatic Decline in Child Homicide Victims. What’s Changed?

KFF Health News Original

Bucking the alarming spike in overall homicides in recent years, the homicide rate involving young children is down 70% in California from three decades ago. The nation has seen a parallel, albeit slower, decline.

Home Births Gain Popularity in ‘Baby Bust’ Decade

KFF Health News Original

Over the past decade, California has seen a sustained rise in the proportion of people who opt to give birth at home or in midwife-run birthing centers rather than in a hospital. Covid has further fueled that trend.

California’s Highest Covid Infection Rates Shift to Rural Counties

KFF Health News Original

As vaccination rates rise across the state, the overall numbers of covid cases and deaths have plunged. But health officials are still reporting nearly 1,000 new cases and more than two dozen deaths a day. So, where does covid continue to simmer in California? And why?

Homicides Surge in California Amid Covid Shutdowns of Schools, Youth Programs

KFF Health News Original

California endured a brutal spike in homicides in 2020 across large swaths of the state, registering the largest year-over-year increase in victims in three decades. Experts cite as one significant factor a rise in gang violence fueled by pandemic shutdowns of schools, sports leagues and programs for at-risk youth.

How Covid Has Changed Our Movement, as Revealed by Your Cellphone

KFF Health News Original

Californians are venturing out to shop, dine and work far more now than a year ago, when state officials issued the first sweeping stay-at-home order. But we’re still sticking to home way more than before the pandemic, according to mobile phone tracking data.

California’s Rural Counties Endure a Deadly Covid Winter

KFF Health News Original

In the past two months, covid-related infection and death rates have jumped exponentially in California’s least populated counties. The winter surge has scarred corners of the state that went largely unscathed for much of 2020.

High-Poverty Neighborhoods Bear the Brunt of COVID’s Scourge

KFF Health News Original

COVID infection rates in California are consistently higher in low-income neighborhoods than more affluent areas, according to an analysis by ZIP code. Our findings underscore the heightened risks borne by millions of low-wage workers whose jobs are deemed essential.

As Anxieties Rise, Californians Buy Hundreds of Thousands More Guns

KFF Health News Original

Gun sales are surging in California, where handgun-related FBI background checks this spring and summer were up 83% over 2019. Whether pro or con on gun control, experts agree the trend has been fueled by pandemic-related unrest.

California’s Deadliest Spring in 20 Years Suggests COVID Undercount

KFF Health News Original

California’s death count for the first five months of the pandemic was 13% higher than average for the same period during the prior three years. Subtract the deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 and experts say that still leaves scores of “excess” deaths among people of color that likely were mistakenly excluded from the coronavirus death tally.

Feeling Anxious and Depressed? You’re Right at Home in California.

KFF Health News Original

In a series of July U.S. Census Bureau surveys, nearly half of California adult respondents reported levels of anxiety and gloom typically associated with diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder, a stunning figure that rose through the summer alongside the menacing spread of the coronavirus.

Dental and Doctors’ Offices Still Struggling with COVID Job Loss

KFF Health News Original

Newly released employment data underscores the lingering toll the pandemic has taken on a range of outpatient services in California and across the U.S., from pediatric and family medical practices to dental offices, medical labs and home health care.

Bike Fatalities Are On The Rise

KFF Health News Original

More than 450 cyclists died in traffic accidents in California from 2016 through 2018, marking the highest three-year death rate in 25 years. Among the factors at play: more cars on roads, distracted driving and a pronounced consumer shift toward SUVs.

When Masculinity Turns ‘Toxic’: A Gender Profile Of Mass Shootings

KFF Health News Original

Men are far more likely than women to commit deadly mass shootings, both in California and across the nation. We break down the numbers — and ask experts why gender would have a role in indiscriminate violence.

Child Drowning Rates Drop As Communities Adopt Stricter Building Codes

KFF Health News Original

Children are far less likely to drown than they were in the 1980s, in California and across the nation. Experts say state and local laws that require more fencing and security features around family swimming pools have made a difference and should be expanded nationwide.