Reporting on inequality

By Jennifer LaFleur, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism

Imagine a broad group of people regularly excluded from social, governmental and employment activities because systemic and structural barriers keep them out.

A pretty important story, right? Yet it’s one that too often goes uncovered.

For investigative reporters, it’s an opportunity to do data-driven stories that can have real impact. No matter what your beat is, you will find disability stories.

Years ago, a colleague and I were reporting about disability issues in St. Louis. People with disabilities told us again and again that the biggest problem they faced was inaccessible transportation. Buses were often not accessible to blind riders or riders who used wheelchairs and it was nearly impossible to schedule a trip on the door-to-door paratransit service. To lay the groundwork, we had to do a lot of homework to understand how transit systems are supposed to serve disabled riders. We also had to compile some of our own data because what we needed didn’t exist. The series resulted in a federal investigation of the transit system and improved service for disabled riders.

To start, understand how systems are supposed to function so you can identify what’s not working. That process likely will lead you to the documents and data that can help you uncover the story.

This past summer, a team at The Washington Post investigated programs for workers with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They start at subminimum wages but are supposed to move into higher paying jobs. But many never do. An analysis of Labor Department records found that “at least 38 percent of current employers in the program have violated compensation and other rules and cheated disabled workers out of millions in pay.”

In 2022, the Houston Chronicle reported that nearly 200,000 Texans with disabilities were waiting for services from the state through its Medicaid waiver program. Some families waited for years.

These are not isolated patterns. They are happening across the country and likely will worsen under President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed policies.

In June, NPR’s Joseph Shapiro investigated the Supplemental Security Income program, which keeps many disabled people from marrying because they risk losing benefits. “Many disabled people get caught by this ‘marriage penalty,’ a left-over rule from decades ago when government policies didn’t account for disabled people finding love and getting married,” Shapiro wrote.
In the Center for Public Integrity’s “Institution of One” series, Amy Silverman found that “despite strides in community-based services for people with disabilities, staff shortages and lack of training mean that individuals aren’t getting the services they need.” 

Know the laws

Disability rights are protected by federal laws, as well as some state and local laws.

The Americans with Disabilities Act covers different types of entities. 

• Title I — Employers with 15 or more employees must provide equal access to employment. Complaints are filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• Title II — State and local governments must provide equal access to their programs. Complaints may be filed with local ADA coordinators or with the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies.
• Title III — Businesses and nonprofits must comply with basic requirements that prohibit exclusion, segregation and unequal treatment. Complaints are filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.
• Title IV — Telephone and television services must be accessible to people with hearing and speech disabilities. 

Government and other public websites also must be accessible. In 2021, the DOJ reached a settlement agreement with Rite Aid Corporation because the company’s COVID-19 vaccine booking website was not accessible to some people with disabilities. (Keep this in mind for your own website — especially when reporting on disabilities.)

The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination and requires owners to make reasonable accommodations. Complaints are filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Air Carrier Access Act requires commercial air carriers to provide boarding assistance and certain other accessibility features in new aircraft and airport facilities. Complaints are filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Mental Health Equity and Substance Abuse Parity Act requires that certain insurance providers cover mental health benefits on par with medical benefits. 

Disability data

Data can drive many of these stories to reveal the full extent of problems. If something is enforced, licensed or funded, there likely is a database. 

But don’t stop there. Talk to disabled people and disability rights organizations to learn about their experiences, said Beth Haller, a longtime media and disability researcher and author of “Disabled People Transforming Media Culture for a More Inclusive World.”

Below are a few places to look for disability data on a variety of beats. 

Census

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey asks six questions about whether a respondent has difficulty with certain activities. In 2023, the Census Bureau proposed a change that would have decreased the proportion of people who would be considered disabled. As a result, funding for programs that serve people with disabilities would have been reduced. In February, the Census Bureau announced that it would not change the questions.

Education

The Civil Rights Data Collection from the U.S. Department of Education tracks access to programs, presence of police, use of restraints and other factors and reports them by race and ethnicity, disability status and English learners. Use this data with caution and double-check any findings with local school districts.

State departments of education and school districts also track participation in what are referred to as “special education” programs. 

Parents often struggle with getting the services that allow their children to participate in school. They can help you understand what barriers they face. The Idea Center works with states to improve data collection and analysis.

Employment

The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is double that of workers without disabilities, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor. Disabled workers often are underemployed because they risk losing benefits if they earn too much money. State departments of labor also track data that might be helpful.

Environment

As sea levels rise and weather events become more extreme, the impact is higher on people with disabilities living in those areas. “Research shows people with disabilities are up to four times more likely to die in disasters than the general population. And, according to U.S. census data,” Judy Woodruff reported in 2023 for PBS, “most people with disabilities never return to their homes after a disaster.”

Evacuating when you have a disability can be more difficult and emergency plans may not include procedures for people with disabilities. In addition, compromised health may make people more vulnerable to extreme heat or exposure to pollutants. 

Health care

Shortages of medical providers at all levels make it hard for people with disabilities to find care. The Health Resources & Services Administration tracks data on the healthcare workforce.

The lack of accessible medical offices has long been an issue for disabled patients, but a new rule will require medical facilities to be more accessible.

Housing

Many people with disabilities continue to live in institutions because they cannot find affordable accessible housing. Many communities have a shortage of affordable housing, but the problem is even worse for those who need accessible housing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes several housing data sets. Your local housing authority also should have data on housing.

Politics

Disabled voters can face a range of barriers to casting their ballots from inaccessible polling places to limits on options such as vote-by-mail. According to a study conducted for the U.S. Commission on Election Assistance, “about one in seven voters with disabilities encountered difficulties voting in 2022.” 

While some states have added options, such as vote-by-mail that make voting easier, many new voting laws make it harder for people to cast a ballot.

On Nov. 3, MSNBC columnist Eric Garcia wrote about the issue of polling places in churches, which are exempt from the ADA. “About 20% of polling places are in churches,” he wrote. That number is much higher in some states. 

Local boards of election typically have data about polling accessibility, but it’s worth ground-truthing that data. In St. Louis, we found that a significant number of polling places coded as accessible by the elections board were not. 

Transportation

Lawsuits and complaints are a good place to find disability stories on the transportation beat. The DOJ publishes cases on its website.

In 2020, for example, the DOJ reached a settlement agreement with Amtrak requiring the agency to make stations accessible and pay $2.25 million to victims affected by its inaccessible stations. 

Data about public transportation is available from the Federal Transit Administration, which tracks things such as the number of accessible vehicles an agency has. It also does triennial reviews of transit agencies. 

Transit agencies track everything from vehicle repairs to bus stops, which gives local reporters plenty of opportunities to dig into data.

Air travel is another place where people face barriers. News outlets have reported how frequently wheelchairs are damaged by airlines. 

“People don’t realize that this is a part of my body. If this is broken, you’ve broken my legs,” Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth told NPR earlier this year. “Imagine if the American public saw that the airlines broke 892 pairs of legs in a single month. There would be hue and cry, but there hasn’t been.” 

International resources

Accessibility outside the U.S. varies widely as does the availability of data.

Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism conducted a survey that found that in Amman, Jordan, “the city’s buildings, streets and pavements are inaccessible and restrict independent mobility for people with physical and sensory disabilities.” 

The Public Source, a Beirut-based newsroom examined the failed government response in the aftermath of an ammonium nitrate explosion in Beirut that left hundreds of residents disabled.

The United Nations Disability Statistics is a clearinghouse for demographic data by country. 

Last year, the Global Investigative Journalism Network published a guide to covering disabilities, including tips for finding data.

The Zero Project, a program of the Austrian-based Essl Foundation, is an initiative to support the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Zero Project database contains thousands of experts and organizations that can help explore disability issues worldwide.

Keep digging

Be creative in seeking disability data.

Silverman — who has had to wrangle data to cover intellectual and developmental disability issues — urged reporters to “always, always, always try to get data and records from an individual, family member or other sources who has access to unredacted materials.”

She also recommended talking with academics who might have data or going to another agency if one won’t give you the data.

“If someone tries that hard to keep information from you, keep digging,” she said. “It probably means you are onto something.” 

Jennifer LaFleur (she/her) teaches data journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She previously held senior editing positions overseeing teams of investigative journalists at the Center for Public Integrity and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. LaFleur is a former training director for Investigative Reporters and Editors and previously served on IRE’s Board of Directors. She is on the advisory board for the National Center for Disability and Journalism.

This article was originally published in The IRE Journal’s Q4 2024 print edition. The full issue is available online in PDF format.