An Idaho lawsuit concerning how cities across the West enforce laws about sleeping in public—potentially changing how they treat their homeless populations—is now established as precedent. Barring a decision by the Supreme Court to address the case of Martin v.

Child poverty in the U.S. could be cut in half over the next 10 years with a few simple steps, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The cost would be high — at least $90 billion a year.

We beef up law enforcement to attack crime, devote more funding to try and improve inadequate schools and tackle health disparities by getting more people to the doctor. But what if Baltimore could solve all of its persistent social problems by getting rid of poverty?

The city says it plans to move ahead with a costly, stopgap renovation of a New Orleans jail building to house dozens of inmates with mental health issues — but it also wants to keep its options open.

Kansas officials see a solution to chronic homelessness and the burden placed on state institutions, jails and law enforcement in the work of a psychiatrist who believes mentally ill people can help themselves without any strings attached.

Some places lift children out of poverty. Others trap them there. Now cities are trying to do something about the difference.