Sarah Alvarez

Caption: PRX default User image
  • Username: sarahwa
  • PRX Member
  • Role: Producer/Reporter: Station-Based

Recent Pieces from Sarah Alvarez

Caption: A selfie Alex and Paula took at the DHS office where they are both working to improve outcomes for young people involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems., Credit: PAULA LAQUERRE

Connection makes a huge difference for Michigan's most at-risk youth (03:27)
From: Michigan Radio

It makes sense that young people who have been abused or neglected would be more likely to get in serious trouble. But the numbers are nonetheless pretty amazing. Almost half ...
Caption: Karen Wang and her son when he was younger. She has lived in three different school districts looking for the right mix of services and culture., Credit: KAREN WANG

The importance of "school culture" for kids with disabilities in Michigan (03:47)
From: Michigan Radio

The federal government says Michigan’s education outcomes for kids in special education have to improve. But things like graduation rates aren't bad across the board. State ...
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Living off tips and not the minimum wage (03:16)
From: Michigan Radio

While the state minimum wage will go up to $8.15 an hour starting in September, tipped workers will only get a raise to 3 dollars and 51 cents an hour. Most tipped workers ...
Caption: Grace, Zariah and Molly eat lunch together at a "geekend" designed to bring students from neighboring districts together., Credit: Sarah Alvarez

If a lack of diversity is the new normal, what can Michigan schools do? (03:39)
From: Michigan Radio

Michigan’s schools are some of the most racially segregated in the country. The third most segregated, in fact. But would more diversity translate to better education for ...
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Could more lawyers make Michigan's child welfare system work better? (03:46)
From: Michigan Radio

Michigan’s foster care system is the sixth biggest in the country, with more than 13,000 kids. Many of them have a parent or relative who feels just as trapped by the system ...
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Student and school prepare for a father's deportation (03:19)
From: Michigan Radio

Our State of Opportunity project has been following the story of a little boy named Charlie. His dad was scheduled to be deported this week and his school was scrambling to ...
Caption: Coverage of desegregation in Detroit's public schools in the Detroit Free Press, Credit: Ray Litt

Does racial diversity equal better schools? (03:40)
From: Michigan Radio

Schools were more diverse when segregation in Detroit was challenged at the Supreme Court 40 years ago than they are today. Now only four percent of the children in Detroit ...
Caption: Coverage from the Detroit Free Press in the mid-1970's questions court ordered busing , Credit: Ray Litt

40-year shadow cast by Detroit's failed busing plan (03:37)
From: Michigan Radio

Next week marks the 40th anniversary of a seminal Civil Rights case. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about busing and segregation in Detroit’s ...
Caption: A teen in the Turn the Corner fitness program and an instructor at The Corner health center in Ypsilanti. The Corner works to deliver preventative health services to adolescents and tries to sign them up for government sponsored insurance, Credit: Sarah Alvarez / Michigan Radio

Why aren't teenagers taking advantage of no-cost insurance? (03:52)
From: Michigan Radio

Support for State of Opportunity from Michigan Radio comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where children come first
Caption: Young people at the Fostering Success conference, trying to prepare to age out of the foster care system, Credit: Maddy Day / Fostering Success Michigan

Can Michigan make aging out of foster care easier? (06:13)
From: Michigan Radio

Support for State of Opportunity comes from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a partner with communities where children come first.