Mental Health Courts Help Divert People From Jail. Why Don’t More NY Counties Have Them?
Despite efforts to expand the system, more than half of the state’s counties still lack courts that serve people with serious mental illness.
Hi! I'm Eliza Fawcett.
I'm an investigative reporter focused on mental health, public health and the criminal justice system.
I'm a journalist at the Investigative Reporting Lab at Yale. I've covered public health for the Hartford Courant and national news for The New York Times, as a newsroom fellow. My work has appeared in New York Focus, KFF Health News, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and other publications.
Find me on LinkedIn or contact me via email.
Scroll down to read some of my work.
Featured Work
Starved For Care
People are starving to death in local jails across the U.S., even as for-profit providers are often paid millions for their care. Who is dying, and why?
This Agency Is Supposed to Monitor Jails. Is Anyone Monitoring It?
The State Commission of Correction has been stumbling for decades — with millions of incarcerated people caught in the lurch.
From Yale Law to Oath Keepers: Stewart Rhodes’s Unlikely Journey
Criminal Justice
Solano County profited from inmate video calls after banning in-person jail visits, lawsuit says
Hochul’s Plan to Close Prisons Faces a Fight
New York’s incarcerated population has been declining for decades. Why is it so hard for prison closures to keep pace?
‘A Waste of Time’: Inside New York’s Broken Jail Accountability System
The state council that reviews grievances spent an average of eight seconds on each case in its last meeting — and rejected nearly all of them.
How County Jails Sidestep Solitary Confinement Law
New York imposes strict regulations on “segregated confinement.” What if it’s just called “confinement”?
Public Health
‘All public health is local’: Experts sound alarm on consequences of HHS shuttering NYC regional office
May 16, 2025
NYC loses millions in state aid for public health services each year. City leaders want the money back.
Feb. 27, 2025
Healthbeat
As Families in Crisis Struggle to Reach Services, Medicaid Cuts Threaten to Make It Worse
April 9, 2024
New York Focus
COVID-19 long-haulers struggle with persistent Mental Health issues: brain fog, anxiety, depression and sleep disorders
Feb. 5, 2021
Hartford Courant
On the front lines fighting the coronavirus: Connecticut doctors and nurses battle death and despair
May 8, 2020
Hartford Courant
20 deadly overdoses in 5 years at 2 West Side hotels. Why it’s so hard to tackle a few blocks of the opioid crisis
Features
There’s No Ocean in Sight. But Many Hawaiians Make Las Vegas Their Home.
May 20, 2023
The New York Times
Memphis, Through the Lens of Tyre Nichols
Mar. 2, 2023
The New York Times
After Arkansas Trial, Judge Weighs Legality of Ban on Care for Transgender Youth
Dec. 4, 2022
The New York Times
The Pandemic Generation Goes to College. It Has Not Been Easy.
Nov. 1, 2022
The New York Times
Vulnerable and Trapped: A Look at Those Lost in Hurricane Ian
Oct. 21, 2022
The New York Times
A Connecticut middle schooler needed psychiatric care. More than a year later, his mother is still struggling to get all he needs.
Mar. 13, 2022
Hartford Courant
‘This will all be underwater’: As climate change arrives in Connecticut, coastal towns like Groton face a precarious future of rising sea levels and intensifying storms
Nov. 4, 2021
Hartford Courant
Breaking News
12-Year-Old Boy Is Charged in Killing of 15-Year-Old Cousin in Brooklyn
June 3, 2024
The New York Times
Pro-Palestinian Rally Becomes Mass Subway Ride to Confront Kathy Hochul
Feb. 29, 2024
The New York Times
Outrage at G.O.P. Could Propel Expelled Democrats Right Back to House
Apr. 7, 2023
The New York Times
Tennessee G.O.P. Punishes 2 Democrats by Throwing Them Out of House
Apr. 6, 2023
The New York Times
A Place of Sanctuary Is Punctured by the Reality of Gun Violence in America
Mar. 28, 2023
The New York Times
Amid a Plague of Shootings, Bystanders Become Heroes
Jan. 25, 2023
The New York Times
‘We Were a Family’: Victims in Walmart Shooting Had Bonded on Overnight Shift
Nov. 24, 2022
The New York Times
Colorado Springs Mourns the Loss of Five Lives and a Haven
Nov. 22, 2022
The New York Times