Social Services Reporter

Date Posted	September 10, 2024
Industry	Nonprofit
Specialty	Not Specified
Job Status	Full-time

Description:

New York Focus is seeking a full-time reporter to investigate social services and public benefits across New York state. We’re looking for a driven reporter to dig deep into state and local welfare bureaucracies, analyzing policy and documenting its impact on the millions of New Yorkers who rely on the state for necessities like food, housing, and healthcare.

New York spends more money than any other state on public welfare. Millions of New Yorkers rely on local government for SNAP benefits, cash assistance, Medicaid enrollment, rental vouchers, child care subsidies, and more. Yet we have among the highest rates of homelessness and child poverty in the nation. Applying for benefits can be a protracted bureaucratic nightmare. The state delegates administration to understaffed county-level agencies subject to little oversight.

As New York’s only reporter dedicated to this beat on a statewide level, you’ll build deep sourcing within New York’s sprawling social services system; obtain and analyze data to reveal systemic trends; and travel across the state to tell powerful stories about the New Yorkers who rely on their government most. You’ll report three to five stories per month, balancing longer-term investigations with a drumbeat of accountability coverage.

This position can be based anywhere in New York state. Please submit a résumé, cover letter, and three clips to hires@nysfocus.com no later than October 1.

ABOUT NEW YORK FOCUS

New York Focus is New York’s only statewide nonprofit newsroom. We reveal how power works in the Empire State. Our stories have spurred legislation, shaped regulation, and driven national news cycles. We’re a small but rapidly growing team that punches far above its weight. Read more about us in this New York Times profile.

ABOUT YOU

Candidates should have:

• At least 5 years of reporting experience

• Experience covering social services or related topics (such as poverty, housing, or health care)

• Superb investigative skills, including fluency with data and public records

• Crisp copy, and the ability to bring policy to life through rich, character-driven narrative

• Enthusiasm to take part in and help build a young, growing publication

• The drive to produce ambitious reporting that can change how social services function in New York

COMPENSATION

$70,000 to $80,000 annual salary, plus great benefits.

TO APPLY

Please submit a resume, cover letter, and three clips to hires@nysfocus.com by October 1, and earlier if you can. The cover letter should describe how your experience in journalism would set you up to succeed in this position, your vision for the social services beat, and why you want to work at New York Focus.

We are committed to an inclusive workspace and strongly encourage applications from people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.