Mississippi Public Broadcasting

1 week ago | mpbonline.org | Will Stribling

The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit health policy research organization, has released its 2025 scorecards on health system performance. In the report, Mississippi ranks last or near the bottom across many of the 50 performance indicators tracked, like premature death and hospital mortality. Infant mortality is one of the indicators Mississippi is most behind for, even when compared to its southeastern peers, both in the rate of infant deaths and racial disparities within that category.

1 week ago | mpbonline.org | Kat Stromquist

As part of his client advocate work, Olivier helps teach clients about navigating relationships. That area can be a challenge, explains Tarika Daftary-Kapur, a professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey who has studied juvenile lifers' reentry experiences. Family reconnections in particular can be hard to get used to. People coming home have missed years of day-to-day interactions with family members, and relatives often remember them more clearly as kids.

2 weeks ago | mpbonline.org | Drew Hawkins

Julie Ford doesn’t remember everything about her assault. She remembers being tired as she neared the end of her usual jogging route atop the Mississippi River levee in New Orleans. She remembers passing someone sitting on a bench. She remembers being “tackled like a football player.”The rest comes in flashes. Fighting him off. Dragging herself through the dirt. Calling for help.

2 weeks ago | mpbonline.org | Will Stribling

The complaint filed Monday in the Southern District Federal Court argues that House Bill 1193, which is set to go into effect in July, violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by imposing the state government's views on matters like race and gender identity on educators and students. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Mississippi alongside several legal partners on behalf of concerned teachers and parents.

2 weeks ago | mpbonline.org | Will Stribling

Mississippi's strength in education remains especially notable, as it remains at or near the bottom for the other domains covered in the report. The 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, published annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, ranked Mississippi 47th in economic well-being, 48th for overall child well-being, 48th in family and community and 50th in health.