Mississippi Today’s Taft recognized for reporting on mental health
Mississippi Today reporter Isabelle Taft was honored by Families as Allies Monday for her in-depth reporting on Mississippi’s mental health system.
Families as Allies is a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for children with behavioral health issues and their families. Mississippi Today attended a ceremony for honorees who exemplified one of the organization’s core values: valuing every child and family, excellence, partnership, and responsibility. Taft received the Tessie Schweitzer Award for Accountability for her reporting on mental health.
“We especially appreciate your commitment to clearly explain developments and processes that can be confusing and convey the real-world struggles of people with mental illness and their families,” Families as Allies said in a press release.
Last year, Taft dove into complicated stories about Mississippi’s mental health system. She detailed how individuals and families with mental health issues were ask legislators to ensure information is obtained about how federal funds are spent. She closely covered the ongoing state mental health lawsuit. He shared the difficult experiences of a Hattiesburg family who struggled with the state’s civil commitment process.
“Reporting on mental health in Mississippi can be challenging because it involves complicated systems that don’t always seem to work together, with high stakes and dire consequences for the actual people seeking help,” Taft said. “Families As Allies helps Mississippians navigate those systems, and their staff have also helped me develop an understanding of the state’s mental health services and challenges. I am grateful to them for this recognition and to everyone who has shared their time and knowledge with me while reporting on mental health over the past year.”
Other honorees included Dr. Michael Hogan, Imari McDonald and Representative Kevin Felcher.
“Mississippi is lucky to have Isabelle reporting on its mental health institutions,” said Kate Royals, community health editor for Mississippi Today. “She is a fair and thorough reporter, and the people here deserve to get contextual and truthful information about what is going on in our state’s mental health system, which has been the subject of a federal lawsuit for the past six years.”
Taft joined Mississippi Today last year as a member of the community health team covering abortion, maternal and child health, mental health and state Division of Medicaid operations.
This month, she and Mississippi Today were selected as a member of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Networkand Taft will spend the next year collaborating with the award-winning nonprofit investigative newsroom on a special project.
Read the Taft report here.
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