US Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha speaks during a press conference alongside Susan Rhodes, the regional director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights

RI NEWS‘Appalling failure’: Investigation finds R.I. has ‘routinely’ segregated children with disabilities by institutionalizing them

Rhode Island has repeatedly violated federal disability laws by over-hospitalizing children in state care who have behavioral disabilities, said US Attorney Zachary Cunha on Monday.

David N. Sontag, senior associate general counsel and director of ethics at Beth Israel Lahey Health; LaShonda Walker-Robinson, community resource specialist; and Myraida Claros, director of the health justice initiative at Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Money, Power, InequalityIn some Boston hospitals, patients get lawyers, too

While medical professionals are trained for illnesses of the body, it’s difficult to navigate patients’ legal matters whether that’s a landlord refusing to cooperate or a need to make calls to help them connect to the right resource. That's where the lawyers step in.

A temporary cottage community in the parking lot of Jamaica Plain's Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, meant to house people struggling with addiction and homelessness, is slated to close in July.

Shattuck’s cottage community, a relief to the unsheltered at Mass. and Cass, to close this summer

Residents in the shelter program are being offered alternative housing, officials said.

Appraisal bias can devalue equity in Black-owned homes by tens of thousands of dollars.

Money, Power, InequalityWhy appraisal bias lingers in Black neighborhoods, even as Boston outperforms most of the country

Despite efforts to root out this form of discrimination in recent years, the goal remains elusive.

The 1 bus, which runs between Cambridge and Boston, is one of the most popular — and crowded — routes in the MBTA system. City councilors and transit advocates have pushed to make it fare-free, like three other critical routes in Boston have been for two years. But officials say it's not on the table this year.

Boston made some of its busiest MBTA bus routes fare-free. Why hasn’t Cambridge?

Cambridge city councilors and transit activists have been pushing for years to make the popular 1 bus fare-free, just as Boston has done on three of its busiest bus routes. But officials say it's not on the table for at least another year.

Recent Globe projects

Explore the project: Beyond the Gilded Gate

People in and around Boston are being challenged, in ways never before, to address the region's unprecedented housing crisis. The Globe Spotlight Team probed this question and found yet another crisis: One of consensus and will.

Nightmare in Mission Hill

The story of how a murder in Mission Hill — the Carol Stuart shooting — terrorized and wounded a community of innocent people.

photo illustration of Peter Faneuil painted by John Smibert

Who was Peter Faneuil? A Bostonian, merchant, philanthropist — and slave trader.

Most Bostonians know little about the man for whom Faneuil Hall is named, who enriched himself by trafficking in human beings. Should knowing that history change the way the city remembers him?

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Money, Power, Inequality

Examining the racial wealth gap

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Why, after years of new policies and good intentions, is Boston still so unequal? And what can we do about it? The Money, Power, Inequality team will zero in on the racial wealth gap and why it persists.

That includes a fuller exploration of our history of inequities: the role of Boston in the slave trade and tracing the systems and policies that have enabled the racial wealth gap to endure.

We’ll explore the societal structures — both intentional and accidental — that stand in the way of wealth equality, from housing policies to a higher education system that favors those who already have the resources. It also means showing how the wealth gap hurts us all, and how closing it doesn’t mean that others lose out. We will focus on illuminating big and bold solutions. And we’ll do this work in conversation with our readers and the community.

The Money, Power, Inequality team

Black and Latino entrepreneurs in Boston lack equal access to growth opportunities, UMass researchers find

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts’ Donahue Institute spent years gathering quantitative data, while talking to small business owners in Dorchester, East Boston, Mattapan, and Roxbury. 5:15 p.m.

State Representative Bud Williams of Springfield hosted a legislative briefing Wednesday at the Massachusetts State House on a bill that would offer solutions to the crisis of missing Black women and girls in the state.

‘They should be protected’: Massachusetts bill could help spotlight missing Black women and girls

If passed, Massachusetts could join other states that have introduced and passed similar efforts. 6:26 p.m.

Gabriela Ramos loaded fresh produce onto a mobile market at Fresh Truck's Roxbury warehouse. Fresh Truck is a nonprofit that increases access to high-quality produce.

Grocery costs are higher than ever. That means big demand for food assistance nonprofits.

As the demand for free and affordable food surges, the Greater Boston Food Bank now serves more than double the number of people it did pre-pandemic. 7:43 a.m.

An apartment building under construction in Waltham in 2015.

An ambitious Mass. housing law is coming to your town. Here’s what you need to know.

The state law is an attempt to chip away at a deepening housing crisis fueled by decades of restrictive zoning rules in the suburbs and small towns of Greater Boston. 5:52 a.m.

Money, Power, Inequality

The plan comes after the two Mass. leaders in March visited MCI-Norfolk, the largest state-operated prison that has over the years grappled with its own water crisis.

Markey, Pressley introduce declaration of environmental rights for incarcerated people

Two Massachusetts leaders introduced a new declaration tying environmental justice and prisoner’s rights. 5:34 p.m.

Midwife Sabrina Pereira felt for the baby during a prenantal checkup with expectant mother Laurie Cormier.

Midwives want to be formally licensed in Mass. What does that mean?

Supporters say bills to license the birthing professionals would be transformative for the state reproductive health care workforce and maternal mortality outcomes. 7:42 a.m.

Tiffani DeVincent-Clarke watched her 2-year-old daughter, Priia, play. At the beginning of May, DeVincent-Clarke, who has bounced around multiple shelters, will move into a new two-bedroom apartment in Cambridge through a new Rapid Housing program.

Can private landlords help ease the shelter crisis in Mass.? A new program is trying to find out.

State vouchers aim to make it worthwhile for private landlords to take in people emerging from homelessness. 5:58 a.m.

Money, Power, Inequality

Nicole Obi, Black Economic Council of Massachusetts president and chief executive, speaking in Boston at the Mass Black Expo 2023.

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts doubles grants and businesses supported last year, report says

Among the accomplishments listed in the report, BECMA supported more than 400 Black-owned businesses, an increase of 168 percent, and more than doubled the grants awarded to businesses since 2022, amounting to $609,000. 12:39 p.m.

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Black joy, Black lives, as celebrated by culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt.

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This is a reporting effort dedicated to investigating race, class, and inequality in Boston-area schools.

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More Globe stories on inequality

Money, Power, Inequality

Black and Latino entrepreneurs in Boston lack equal access to growth opportunities, UMass researchers find

‘They should be protected’: Massachusetts bill could help spotlight missing Black women and girls

Grocery costs are higher than ever. That means big demand for food assistance nonprofits.

An ambitious Mass. housing law is coming to your town. Here’s what you need to know.

Money, Power, Inequality

Markey, Pressley introduce declaration of environmental rights for incarcerated people

Midwives want to be formally licensed in Mass. What does that mean?

Can private landlords help ease the shelter crisis in Mass.? A new program is trying to find out.

Money, Power, Inequality

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts doubles grants and businesses supported last year, report says

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